Just Another Day...

Saturday Sneak Peak

2012-01-28T06:15:00.001-05:00

Hello, friends!Here's a Saturday sneak peak for my house-building enthusiasts! We saw her yesterday and She. Is. Gorgeous!!! I'm so relieved with the external color scheme and love it more than I ever thought I would! The shutters are a burgundy/merlot color called Winestone although I think they look kinda dark brown in this pic. They look perfect in real life, though!

I'm very hopeful our interior color choices make us as happy as the outside ones! :)Love. This. House!!!!!Posted from my beloved iPhone

Siding, Siding, SIDING!

2012-01-27T06:00:00.000-05:00

Boy was I surprised yesterday when we arrived for our pre-drywall walk-thru at 1PM to see that our siding was almost complete! Ack! Secretly I've been worried about how it will look -- not just the color, but how it will look with the brick. I mean, really. You're selecting colors using tiny little 4-inch samples and there's no way to see possibly imagine what it'll actually look like until you see it. On YOUR house. Wow!

Sorry about the horrible pictures. I wanted go by the house later in the day yesterday so I could see the finished siding AND SHUTTERS! in the daylight, but it was waaaaaay too dark to take any pics by the time I got there. The shutters are a deep burgundy/merlot color called Winestone. I *think* I'm gonna like how it all looks together, but like I said, it was too dark to see the house last night so I'll have to take some pics when I go by today and hope that I love it to pieces! I am very happy with the siding color: it's a very neutral off-white. Not yellow-y. Not brown-y. Just off-white-y. And it meshes very well with the stone, so that makes me super happy, too! Yay!!!

Slow Going, Granite Venting

2012-01-26T06:00:00.000-05:00

Well, folks, there's not much exciting to report today. We've got our pre-drywall walk thru this afternoon and the drywall crew will begin either tomorrow or Saturday morning. Yay!

The kids and I visited the house yesterday and noticed the guys were there putting in the insulation on the external walls. I also noted the moulding around our front door and garage door had been completed since our last trip out there. See?

Nice! I asked our PM about the siding (as in, where is it??) and he mentioned something about rain delays, etc... All I know is I was spoiled over that first week of progress that now this slow moving stuff is really boring! Let's get 'er done, right?! Hopefully we'll see the siding go up between now and the beginning of next week.

On a totally unrelated note, I am not in love with our granite selection.

Giallo Napoleon

We were only given maybe 10-12 samples, and about 8 or 9 of them were dark (black, dark green, dark brown, etc.). With the espresso cabinets, we HAD to go with something light. This was pretty much the only option, but the more I look at it, the more yellow/gold hues I see and therefore, the more I hate it. I'd SO much prefer something like this:

Alabama White

But alas, it wasn't an option so we'll get what we get. I wonder how happy hubs will be if I tell him we'll be replacing the granite we just paid big bucks for within our first year in the new house??

Not very, I'm guessing...

((beating head on desk))

Story Time with LO!

2012-01-25T06:00:00.000-05:00

The other night, I was putting LO to bed and, per her new norm, she selects which book SHE will read to ME before bed. She chose a "Tangled" book -- one of the "Step into Reading: Level 2" books I picked up for her last month for Christmas. The Level 2 books are geared for Preschool - Grade 1 and contain basic vocabulary, short sentences and simple stories. I curled up next to her in her bed and listened to the story. I happened to have my iPhone with me so, if you're interested in a little bedtime story for yourself, check out the video below!Posted from my beloved iPhone

Pre-Drywall Walkthru

2012-01-24T06:00:00.000-05:00

Our pre-drywall meeting is coming up this week, so I took the liberty of walking through the house over the weekend to capture a little pre-drywall video footage. I'll warn you: it's extremely amateurish, very shaky and quite possibly likely to induce spasms. If you're okay with all that, or you're just really interested in seeing the progress and layout of the house and are willing to risk it, then check out the video below!

Just don't say I didn't warn ya... ;)

Enjoy!

A Glimpse

2012-01-23T06:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Monday, folks! I figured I'd start off the week by sharing a little glimpse of the inspiration I've been pouring over for the past few months for the kitchen. You'll see our appliances, cabinets and granite countertop selections, which I've coupled with some various forms of inspiration and miscellaneous items I want to include in the space. My vision is a sort of "commercial-meets-home" kitchen that showcases stainless appliances and a gorgeous, muted backsplash. I want it to be crisp and airy, while being functional and warm. Take a look...

I mentioned in Friday's post that our exterior brick was being installed. Well, they finished that project right up and here it is!

They obviously still need to pressure wash it and fix a few of the "too red" bricks that we pointed out to the PM, but overall I really love it! :)

What a Difference a Week Makes!

2012-01-20T06:00:00.000-05:00

Thursday, January 12th:

One very short week later...

Thursday, January 19th:

I know, right???

Crazy! What you may notice from my last house update on Wednesday is we now have shingles on the roof, all of windows AND doors (front, interior garage and patio), and the HVAC and plumbing are complete! The electricians are scheduled to start today! Please also notice that our lovely brick is being added as well. I really like the one we selected -- Castletone:

Here's a closer pic of the guys working on it:

There were SIX (6) guys working on the brick. Six! And I think I counted at least 3 guys working on the roof putting the singles on. If you ever wondered how they've pulled this much work off in 7 short days, there's your answer! This pic was taken around 2PM yesterday, so I'm pretty sure it'll be finished by the time the kids and I swing by after picking LO up from school today. I can't wait to see how the siding will look with the brick. One day at a time, though... ;)

10 Things. 10 VERY Important Things.

2012-01-19T06:00:00.000-05:00

I'm taking a quick break from house updates because, let's face it, the house is moving along frickin' awesomely, and I'll have a nice post about it tomorrow to end the week. Plus, I found something that renders much more value and deserves the scrutiny of all mankind. I mean it. Mankind.

Okay, guys. Listen up! Seriously -- this one is for you (surely there are 1 or 2 of you who read my blog... right? Riiight??). I came across this post from blogging genius Chapmaniac last night and felt it deserved to be posted and reposted and reposted again until it floods all of the interwebs (at least . There is not a married man on this earth who would not benefit from the information below. In fact, even you single guys should read on because, let's face it, at some point or another, you WILL be smitten by a woman and you'll surely wish you had this information in your arsenal to prepare you to be an amazing husband. Trust me, your wife will thank you!!!

10 Things Every Husband Should Know About His Wife

Brilliantly written by: Chapmaniac as seen here

When a man gets married (or begins a serious relationship with a woman), he should first and foremost recognize that he has his work cut out for him. And as sweet and pleasant as that initial encounter may be, if he is to succeed going forward, he must approach the relationship as one approaches learning a foreign language. Not only does he have to learn how to speak his lady's language, but he must also learn what is of essence in her particular "culture". Indeed, he must become like a student, taking notes so that the integration process might not prove to be too painful. This is not to say that a woman shouldn't do the same, but only that a man can only change what he is capable of changing, namely himself. Thus, I offer ten keys to understanding the unusual citizens of Womania:

10. Women Don't Want Your Honest Opinion:

If a woman asks what you think about anything relating to her person, tread very carefully. She may sound reasonable when she says, "What do you think about this dress... honestly?" or "How do I look," but she may already have in the back of her mind exactly what she wants you to say, and if you fail to provide the proper response, then be prepared to suffer the (dire) consequences.

9. Sometimes There Is Just No Right Answer:

Somewhat similar to the previous example, there are occasions where no answer will satisfy. If you say "yes", then the answer is "no", if you say "no" then the answer is "yes"; and if you say nothing in the hopes of avoiding impending conflict, then you will be accused of being disinterested, burying your head in the sand, or some other such cowardly act. If you accept from the beginning that there is no getting out of this bind, then when the accusations fly, you will be a lot more prepared to deal with them. Look, sometimes you just have to take one for the team - as Christ once did for his bride, the Church.

8. Winning Means Losing:

No sooner have you finished congratulating yourself for making the perfect logical argument, then you realize how little reason suffices in a debate with a woman. If, for example, your wife has a flat tire, is stranded in the middle of nowhere and calls you in tears, do not remind her, as I once did, that you told her to take the other car and that you knew this was going to happen. OK, you might be right, and everything that you are saying may in fact be the truth, but you are only storing up wrath for yourself later by pointing this out. You may be enamored with your flawless logic, but just remember that the victory may feel more like a defeat.

7. Women Want You To Be Psychic:

When it comes to problems, particularly those related to your relationship, women do not want to have to tell you what is wrong... they want you to have telepathy. They reason that if you really love them, then you will know instantly what troubles them. And if you fail to divine her deepest feelings? Well then you must not love her as much as you claim to. In the end, she may tell you what is bothering her, but she won't be happy about it, and she may even include your lack of clairvoyance in her list of complaints.

6. Women Don't Want You To Fix the Problem:

...they want you to listen to them complain about it. As a woman expresses her frustration to a man, the first thing he thinks about is how to resolve the conflict. For he truly wants his wife to be free of anxiety (or at least the household to be free). Meanwhile, as you offer your five steps to rectifying the situation, she blithely passes over your suggestions in order to get back to the thing that is really irritating her. If you can recognize this from the outset, then you may be able to garner some praise from her. After all, few things are valued more by a woman than an attentive husband.

5. When You Screw Up, Sometimes "I'm sorry" Isn't Good Enough:

Depending on the circumstances, when you screw up, you may be able to get away with a simple apology. But if you really want to melt the ice, then you must bring a pleasing sacrifice to her altar. You may put flowers on that altar, you may write a poem and place it there, you may even travel to hell and back again (i.e. the mall), in order to purchase some item that she previously expressed interest in. But whatever the case, if you genuinely wish to receive absolution from the high priestess, then you must commit yourself to some real form of Penance.

4. Women Want To Be Surprised:

When it comes to gifts, men are satisfied with simply telling you what they want and then receiving it. Women? Not so much. You may be able to get away with it for one gift, but anything beyond that must involve the element of surprise. One easy thing that men can do in order to make this process considerably less painless is by "taking notes" whenever your wife says she likes something. It makes your shopping for that special gift a lot simpler, and even better, she will actually come to believe that you are in fact listening to her.

There is no greater threat to a marriage than the loss of this dynamic. Men must be active in their love, lest they retreat into a kind of slothful narcissism. And when I say slothful I mean more than his proclivity to worship the "remote control" (which is a perfect term for the emotional disconnect men frequently fall back into), but likewise his tendency to grow slack in his duty to romance his wife. If a man wishes to be happy in his marriage, he must never abandon this "element of surprise."

3. What A Woman Says Is Not Always What She Means:

When studying a foreign language one must learn the various words that serve as an equivalent in their own language. In a similar sense, men must also learn what women mean by the words that they say. For example, when a man says "Honey, if you want to go out with your friends tonight I'm fine with that," what he means is "Honey, if you want to go out with your friends tonight I'm fine with that." If a woman says that she is " just fine with you going out," beware, for she may actually be saying something like; "Yeah, you go ahead and go out, I dare you!" Men tend to mean what they actually mean (as boring and uninspiring as that may sound), while women tend to mean the opposite of what they say, especially as it relates to matters of the heart. If a woman says that something "doesn't matter to her," be assured that it is probably as essential to her as the very air she breathes. For this reason, a man may find himself in a whole heap of trouble without exactly knowing why. But don't think you can simply plead ignorance, because remember, you were supposed to know her well enough to intuit what she really meant!

2. Women Want You To Make The Decisions... Sort Of:

If your wife/love interest tells you that she wants you to decide on a restaurant, understand that she is only giving you this privilege to the extent that she agrees with your conclusion. She'll insist that she wants you to decide, but the moment you put forth a suggestion, she'll say "I don't want to go there." The same can be said when deciding on what movie to watch, or what afternoon outing to pursue. I cannot say for sure what women are thinking in this regard, but I can say that they want you to be decisive, just not necessarily the decider.

1. Women Don't Want To Be Treated Equally; They Want To Be Treated As Queens:

They may be egalitarians when it comes to how they treat others, but when it comes to how they want to be treated, well, that is a whole different story. One day I came home and complained to my wife that I seemed to be getting myself into trouble with the women at work. I told her that I always treated them as equals so I couldn't understand what was going wrong. She explained that that was my problem; "Women don't want to be talked to as men talk to men- they want to be treated like queens." Now this may seem impractical, but every woman is a queen (or at least must be led to believe it), and to the extent that you can make her feel that she is the only one that reigns in your heart, is the extent to which you will live in a happy household.

Some will complain that I am making generalizations with a list like this, but generalizations are just that- a description of what is generally true. And the above list is generally true.

A Roof!

2012-01-18T06:00:00.000-05:00

Our roof is on! Yay! The kids and I drove by the house yesterday around 1:30 PM and were super excited to see the roof is complete and they are prepping it for shingles! Our PM says the framers are going to finish TODAY and the windows will be delivered and installed as well. As if that weren't enough progress, the plumbers will start tomorrow! WOW!!

Here's a rearview pic of the house. There will eventually be homes built behind us (and on either side of us, of course), but for now, it's just us! We're actually the 3rd home on our street. Man, this stuff is so exciting to me!!!

For the record, I will be returning to your "regular scheduled programming" of random posts about random stuff and not just all house-related posts 100% of the time. It's just that so much progress takes place over the first few weeks that I didn't want to miss a thing. Once they start working on the inside, I have a feeling things will start to slow down a bit and I won't have quite as many posts about the house. But thanks to those of you who are following along on our journey of building our dream house! It's so much fun to see how many hits I've had and, even though the comments are few and far between (no, that's not meant to be a guilt trip!), it's nice to see that my website stats tell me I've got a lot of you keeping up with us. It means a lot! :)

Trusses and Floor Plans... Hurray!

2012-01-17T06:00:00.037-05:00

Imagine my patience in waiting the whole day -- until about 5:30 PM! -- on Monday before going by the house. We figured we'd give the crew a full day to get some work done before checking in on 'em. Plus, hubs had the day off so we spent a lot of time together as a family doing family things... like replacing the toilet in our guest bath (hubs) and packing wall photos and decor (me). Gee. It was awesome. ;)

But all four of us loaded up to head out to the house to check on the progress. I was certain we'd have the trusses up by the end of the day Monday, and I was right!

Ack! She's beautiful! Only 3 work days ago, she was just a little slab of concrete. And now look at her!

The house definitely looked bigger now that both floors and the framing for the roof are complete. Plus, the house is very "deep" -- meaning, it goes back pretty far from front of the garage to the back of the morning room.

Speaking of garages and morning rooms, I don't think I've ever shared the floor plan of this beauty with you guys! For those of you who are interested, here is the awesomeness that is to be our new home!

We're so crazy excited! I CAN. NOT. WAIT. to get into my new gourmet kitchen. It's amazing! And the appliances I selected are totally legit. In fact, the kitchen definitely deserves its own post... in due time! The loft upstairs is one of my favorite things about the floor plan. Basically it'll be a huge play area for the kids. I'm already getting tons of ideas from Pinterest for furniture, toy storage, etc. If only I could find the time and money to make all of them happen! Haha!

Weekend Update!

2012-01-16T06:00:00.013-05:00

Good Monday morning!!! Hope you had a great weekend and are feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the week ahead! And I hope you're up for some house fun, because I'm about to bring it to ya!

So... where did we last leave off? Oh, that's right. It was Thursday afternoon -- 1:19 PM to be exact -- and I was so stoked to see our concrete poured and being perfected.

THURSDAY:

FRIDAY:

Friday morning, around 11:55 AM, Chase and I headed over to the house before picking LO up from school. I can't put into words what I felt when I saw this:

It was so surreal to see actual lumber being used in the actual construction of our actual house. I almost actually cried. It was an amazing sight!

I couldn't help myself, so the kids and I went back for another drive-by after lunch, at 2:13 PM. It's so amazing how well (read: quickly) these guys do what they do!

Due to a slight lack of patience and overeagerness to see progress as it happens, LO and I drove by the house for, yes, the THIRD TIME on Friday, at 5:36 PM. They had put in one of the headers over the garage and lots of the internal structure of our house (I know about the internal structure 'cause I got out and walked through our house and took pics... but I won't bore you with those... yet).

Don't she look purdy? Still seems tiny to me, though, especially with it only having one story so far.

SATURDAY:

It should come as no surprise that we stopped by the house on our way to a birthday party Saturday morning at 10:48 AM. It doesn't look like a lot happened since the previous pic above, but they've actually got the entire second floor plywood flooring down. And they've started moving the wall sections up to the second floor (that's what those 4 guys are doing -- they literally heave those heavy wall sections up the side of the house to the TWO lone guys up there who pull them up -- so glad I don't have their job!).

I had to work Saturday but I asked hubs to take the kids by the house after nap time to take another look. I was NOT surprised (but totally thrilled!!) to see our second floor walls in place when they went by at 5:29 PM! Ack!!

SUNDAY:

Yes, we did a drive-by Sunday afternoon around 5:30 PM and yes, as we had expected, the crew took the day off (they earned it!). I'm sure they will have a busy Monday and I'm quite certain there will be a roof on our home by the end of the day today.

Gah!

Happy Birthday!

2012-01-15T06:00:00.003-05:00

Today is the birthday of a very special and very important person in my life...

I love you!

Concrete and lumber... oh my!

2012-01-13T06:00:00.016-05:00

The kids and I drove by the house yesterday since our PM told us the concrete was scheduled to be poured that morning. We were so surprised when we arrived to see so much happening to OUR LOT! It was awesome! The concrete pour was just about finished and there were several fellas out there smoothing it over (pardon the rear-end trifecta shot below):

The kids and I were so excited to see so much bustling activity taking place after staring at our empty lot for so many weeks.

One pleasant yet unexpected surprise was that our lumber package had also arrived! We're talking like actual home-building materials here, people! One truck had already been unloaded in front of our lot and there was another semi there with a flatbed full of our materials. It's getting to be so real... FINALLY!

We had to leave and headed off to meet one of my most awesome and adored friends for lunch, but couldn't resist the urge to complete another drive-by afterwards to see how things were looking. They had unloaded all of our building materials onto the street, and there was just one lone concrete worker guy putting the finishing touches on our slab.

Seriously. How tiny does our house look in this photo? I mean, that square area there with the step is our 2-car garage. Does it actually look like it'll fit TWO CARS in the picture above? It's just so weird how small it all seems now, but I'm sure it'll finally start looking like a "real" house soon.

The plan is to check on the house again today before picking LO up from school. Our PM tells us they are scheduled to start framing this morning. ACK!!!!! I don't know what I'll think when I actually start to see walls forming... Woot!!!

An Admission...

2012-01-12T06:00:00.026-05:00

Okay, folks. It's time I come clean here.

I have a bit of a crush on all things Top Chef.

This includes, but is not limited to, the great Tom Colicchio.

As a Top Chef junkie, I find myself intrigued by making simple food from a few good, quality ingredients. Tom has a like mind, which he emphasized in my latest Amazon purchase:

I loved reading about Tom's early days in the kitchen, from helping the family as a young boy, to running restaurants throughout New Jersey and New York. His thoughts on cooking are simple and easily translate to the home cook. I look forward to trying out some of his recipes and techniques. He inspires me to want to take some cooking classes to hone my skills even further. I've always loved baking but now I'm feeling the itch to develop my cooking skills. I mean, there's only so much you can do with a can of cream of mushroom soup, right people? I've been amazed at the flavors that develop when you cook from scratch, too. I'm so addicted!

I would like to clarify, however, that I am NOT a fan of a certain Top Chef judge's unsightly unibrow...

Here's hoping "Hugh's $100,000 Eyebrow Challenge" is a success and they raise enough money to rid the world of The Hughnibrow's distracting mess! Haha!

Just a Bit of Progress

2012-01-11T06:00:00.006-05:00

Stopped by the house yesterday to see what's new. Was pleased to see they're getting things lined up for the concrete! Spoke to our PM and looks like they'll be rained out today but should be able to get 'er done on Friday, weather permitting. Once that slab is in, I'm telling you it's CRAZY how fast these houses go up! They've got this process down to a science, folks! Can't wait to see the transformation take place on our new home!

Woot!

Posted from my beloved iPhone

Laundry Soap

2012-01-10T06:00:00.024-05:00

As long as I can remember, I've been a fan of using either Fab or Gain laundry detergent along with Downy fabric softener. It's just been the winning combination that has worked best for my family. Recently, however, I've considered the idea of making my own laundry soap! Gasp!! And yes, there's a good chance that Pinterest has been a very strong influence in said decision. Regardless, I found a super easy and very cheap "recipe" for laundry soap and decided to give it a go.

Oh my word! It was SO easy! And I was able to find all of the ingredients at Walmart... for a total of about $20 bucks.

Photo by beingcreativetokeepmysanity.blogspot.com

Now I have this massive container of laundry soap that literally takes about 1 Tbsp. per load. I can see this soap lasting for a very long time! The blogger who posted this recipe said it took NINE (9) MONTHS to go through ONE BATCH of this stuff! You do the math! ;)

I've been pleasantly surprised by this soap. It cleans really well, both in warm and cold water. It has a very mild scent that combines nicely with my Downy fabric softener. And it really was so easy to make! Literally you just shred the Fels-Naptha soap (I used my food processor -- it was quick and easy, and cleaned right up!) and dump all the items into a large container. I gave it a bit of a stir and voilà! Fabulously awesome laundry soap that'll probably last me close to a year. How exciting! And thrifty!!

Let me know if you decide to give it a try. It's so economical and it's also nice to know that there aren't any weird additives or funky needless perfumes/dyes in my laundry soap. :)

Plumbing's In!

2012-01-09T06:00:00.001-05:00

The kids and I checked out the house last Friday. Seems they've got the plumbing in and just need to get it inspected so they can pour the concrete this week! How exciting! :)

Of course, before checking out the house, we had to hit the playground, which happens to be conveniently located across the street from our to-be-built home. Chase really loved the "big boy" swings!

Here's the lot with all of the plumbing in! We've also got a huge mound of rock/gravel where our driveway will be.

I swear the footprint of the house looks absolutely tiny right now! I can't imagine where they'll fit all 3,200+ sq. ft.!

And of course, I was both surprised and pleased to see they've already got our downstairs bathroom completed:

Haha!

Goofy Goofball

2012-01-06T06:00:00.006-05:00

I've got a goofy little goofball for a son.

See what I mean?

He's constantly making me smile. Too bad Mr. Potato Head's glasses don't fit him so well... Haha!

Such a sweet little guy I have!

Happy Friday, y'all! Have a wonderful weekend! :)

Flashback!

2012-01-05T06:00:00.002-05:00

Hahahahahaha!!!!

Last night at bedtime I decided to switch things up for LO a bit. Before reading her a book (technically, she's usually the one reading to me now), I told her we were going to enjoy a video book! She was super excited, as was I. Thanks to the power of YouTube, I busted out a blast from MY past...

She-Ra, Princess of Power

It's an audio book of "Glimmer of Hope" -- one of my favorite She-Ra books from my childhood. I was a serious She-Ra fan. I'd draw She-Ra and her rockin' white and gold mini-dress and gold ear-wings, I'd pretend the arm of the couch was Swift Wind and would hold my foil-covered cardboard sword aloft and say,

"For the honor of Grayskull, I am She-Ra!"

LO and I watched the short video together, and she even asked questions about Princess Adora and the Glitterbugs. It was so freakin' entertaining and hilarious and cool at the same time!

Here's the video for your viewing/flashbacking pleasure... :)

Potty Time?

2012-01-04T06:00:00.002-05:00

I'm tired of diapers. Especially the dirty, stinky ones. I'm tired of changing them, and I'm tired of paying for them. I'm longing for the day we get Chase out of diapers, and I recently started thinking we'd give it a try sooner than later. But my mommy instinct is telling me he's just not quite ready to tackle that yet.

((sigh))

I looked back to see when we potty trained LO, and remembered it wasn't until after we returned home following Chase's birth and Norwood when she was 2 1/2 years old. I documented her "training" in this post (also copied below for your reading pleasure) and I'm afraid she set the bar a bit too high. Seriously. It was like, 2 days of training and she was DONE. Trained. Fully trained both day and night. Zero accidents since. See what I mean? Set the bar too high. I'm scared thinking about what Chase has in store for us! Haha!

Of course, I also have the heart mom dilemma of potty training him before his Fontan. So if we wait until he's 2 1/2, that'll be in April. Chances are, with him being so chunktastic, that his Fontan could take place as early as this summer/fall ((shudder)). And let's remember he's a boy, and I think I've heard boys are harder than girls to potty train? So I just don't know what to do. I try to keep my parenting timeline with Chase as close to LO's as possible, because I want him to be treated the same and not feel different because of his special heart, and being consistent with the kids is one way I feel I can do this from an early age. But I also don't want to be spinning my wheels for nothing! Ugh. Anyone have any thoughts/comments to help a mama out??

For your reading pleasure, here's a post I wrote last January about LO's potty successes. Enjoy the video, too -- it's one of my faves of that little girl of mine!

Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Potty Time!

Guess who finally started potty training the day after she turned 2 1/2? Yep! That's right! Our sweet LO has officially begun the process of ditching the diapers (Amen!)! Yesterday was our first day. I'll be honest, I had NO IDEA where to start. I've read about so many different approaches to potty training, from putting her in pull-ups all day, to going straight to "big girl" panties, to letting her run around the house completely naked for three days to magically do the trick. After much thought, I decided it would be best for us to go straight to the big girl panties during the day, and pull-ups during nap time and nighttime. My assumption is that this would be the best way for her to know when she's had an accident, plus it would eliminate transitioning from pull-ups to panties.

I consider our first day to be a complete success, although we technically had a 50% success rate. Her first accident was on the bean bag we bought her for her first birthday. That was my fault -- I should've known better than to leave the bean bag in the room. Then she headed towards the carpet in her play area and I caught her in the act and put her on the potty. Then later in the day she went twice on her potty! Woot! I was so excited!!! She got a few mini M&M's and an Elmo sticker each time. At nap time she wore a pull-up and woke up poopy, which I sort of expected. Later in the afternoon she went on the carpet outside the bathroom (again, my bad -- I thought daddy was watching her at the time), but then last night she went in the potty again for the third time! I figure if she uses the potty 3 times on her first day, that's a pretty good first day!!! She woke up very wet this morning, which really didn't surprise me (I understand the nighttime training usually comes later after she masters the daytime). She had one accident this morning where she peed on the hardwood floor standing 2 feet from hubs -- I'm not sure why. But I figure we just stick with this and try to be consistent and hopefully she will figure this out soon. It's really hard to keep her off the couches and carpeted areas, so I hope it doesn't take forever! :)

Here she is announcing to the world what she did yesterday!

2011 Recap... Better Late Than Never!

2012-01-03T06:00:00.008-05:00

The guilt has overtaken me and I feel compelled to sum up 2011 with a blog post. I'll warn you: it's not the shortest post ever. But hopefully it'll be entertaining. :)

January 2011:
Do you see this sweet little BABY we started 2011 with? Ohmyheavens. I could just squeeze him! Note his unsteady, wobbly standing in this video:

He was having physical therapy once a week to help him get mobile. Later that same month... first steps!!!

And what about his big sister? She was as happy as ever!

February 2011:
It seems I spent a lot of time talking about LO's behavior issues. I vividly recall the attitude we were getting from her and how lost I felt. We tried some new techniques from a book and started to see some improvements.

It was also in February when Chase's cardiology appointment resulted in scheduling an unplanned heart cath. :( His echo showed some narrowing in his LPA and his cardiologist, as well as the team at MUSC, determined it would be necessary for him to have a cath to try to balloon the narrowing. This was NOT the news we wanted to hear. :(

I also shared a series of guest posts from fellow heart moms to raise awareness for Congenital Heart Defects. You can read them here (Noah), here (Mary Clare), here (Aly Jean), here (Anna Grace), here (Brandt) and here (Bodie). :)

February also brought the devastating loss of a sweet heart warrior, Travis DiCarlo. I vividly remember where I was and what I was doing when I read Nicole's updates following Travis' 4th surgery. I literally could barely get out of bed for 2 days as my heart was breaking for the DiCarlo family. Travis was just 3 days older than Chase and his loss really hit me hard. Please continue to keep Nicole & Roger in your thoughts and prayers as the first anniversary of their loss is approaching. God bless them and hold them and their family close during this time.

March 2011:
This month we took a trip to Cincinnati, Chase had an ER visit at Cincinnati Children's Hospital with what was diagnosed as RSV, and we headed to Charleston for his heart cath. The cath was successful in that they verified he IS a candidate for the Fontan (Praise the Lord!!), they ballooned his LPA, which didn't show any flow restriction (whew!), determined he COULD wait for the typical Fontan timeframe (age 3-4, approx. 30 lbs.) AND he was returned safely to us... looking pretty good, all things considered.

We also decided to start Chase in speech therapy, and I seemed to do a lot of sewing last March, too. See? And see? I also had my first ever blog giveaway!

April 2011:
I spent a LOT of time on my new hobby: sewing. I made this amazing (IMO) black & white quilt for Chase's physical therapist, who we had to say "see ya!" to in April because our little man was a walking pro! Daddy also wrote an informative post about living through an HLHS diagnosis as a father/husband, which was pretty awesome of him. In an effort of full disclosure and total honesty, hubs and I were in the midst of the hardest season of our marriage we had ever encountered. We had made it through Chase's diagnosis, two heart surgeries and two heart caths, and the emotions of it all were finally catching up to us. I hadn't prayed so hard for my husband or our marriage in my life!

May 2011:
This month brought Part II of hubs' perspective on being an HLHS father. We also had some fun at the park with the kids.

My birthday and Mother's Day were also "celebrated" during May (hubs should enjoy those quotes -- haha!). The kids and I enjoyed some fun in the sun playing in the backyard together, too!

Chase's speech therapist also recommended that we have Chase checked out by an ENT to see if he has any fluid in his ears, which could be contributing to his speech delay. We met with a local ENT and awaited the results... I also took a bit of a blogging break during the month of May last year.

June 2011:
Oh the joy of another procedure at MUSC! It was determined that Chase needed to have tubes put in. Imagine his excitement when we told him:

Haha! The poor kid! June 7th was his tube surgery at MUSC and not surprisingly, he did great! We had some issues with the right one after we got home, which would result in another trip to MUSC in the coming months. I didn't blog much in June, but I did enjoy spending time and making precious memories with these guys:

We also had some technology issues during June. From my mishap of epic proportions (busting the front glass on my iPhone) to Chase knocking my laptop on the garage floor, rendering the hard drive completely dead. Good times, huh?

July 2011:
July was a big month for LO! From her first dentist appointment to her 4th birthday parties (Yes, plural. See here and here.), it was a lot of fun!

I'm sure we also spent lots of time playing outside, going to the pool and/or playground and just enjoying a fun summer together.

August 2011:
I played a little catch up on my blog since I hadn't been posting as often. We also took a little family vacay to Hilton Head, SC for a much-needed getaway.

It was while we were on vacation that I got "the call" with an offer for a part-time job I had applied for. Completely stoked!!! Woot!!!

Chase finally started talking a little bit more. See? August also brought a repeat trip to MUSC to replace Chase's right ear tube. Good times. But obviously the tubes have helped his speech, thank goodness!

September 2011:
September was very light in the blog posting department. With preschool being in full swing, then adding soccer to LO's schedule, and working part-time for the first time since becoming a SAHM, and planning Chase's 2nd birthday party, free time was VERY hard to come by, and what little I had obviously wasn't spent blogging. But we did have fun with a trip to see Sesame Street Live, which the kids really enjoyed.

And of course LO loved playing soccer, too!

I think finding an amazingly delicious copycat recipe for Starbucks Hot Chocolate was the only other thing I apparently deemed post-worthy in September.

October 2011:
Chase's 2nd birthday was by far the biggest highlight of October! He had such a blast and it was so wonderful to celebrate two years of having God's blessing in our lives in the form our our little rock star! I made his birthday cake, which, I thought, turned out pretty decent and tasted amazing!

We had a great time celebrating our little guy, but we also learned through that party that it would probably be the last big birthday event we have at our house for either of our kids. We'll be keeping things low-key from now on.

It was crazy to stop and think back to where we were 2 years prior during October. Packed up a U-Haul and headed to Charleston for Chase's birth and first surgery. With a 2 year old in tow. And no clue what the future held. By far it was the scariest time in my life, and I wish so much that the current me could've told myself then that Chase would be a thriving, crazy, 2-year-old toddler! Oh, the fears and uncertainty that would've relinquished! But I'm so very grateful for the journey we've been on with Chase. We've learned so much about ourselves, our family and those who would be there to support us along the way. We are so grateful!!!

October was also the month that we started on our journey of building a new home! I never took it seriously in the beginning because it seemed to good to happen to US, so I just went along with it -- not getting too emotionally involved -- until I could see that hubs was absolutely serious! Yippee!!

November 2011:
Our big boy moved into his big boy bed!!!

Still can't believe how huge this kid is. Seriously. We also had our 6-month check-up with cardiology, and were so very happy and blessed to hear that everything looked great! We were still on schedule for a 3- to 4-year-old Fontan, depending on Mr. Hefty's weight gain over the coming year or so. He's already up to a chunk o' monkey 28 lbs., and considering his surgeon wants him to be between 30-32 lbs., I'd say it's quite likely our little rock star will be rocking the Fontan in 2012. I don't want to even start thinking or talking about it until it's a sure thing, so, moving on...

Chase had his 2-year check-up with his pediatrician as well, and all was well. Not much more to report during November, except...

Oh, that's right!!! We bought a house!!!!! Officially signed the papers on Wednesday, November 30, 2011. Woot!!! :)

December 2011:
During December, I had a bit of a debacle with how LO was being punished at school. I was glad to see my blogging community agreed with me. Seriously. Making a 4-year-old run laps?? Ugh.

Chase got his second round of Synagis for this season, I had to work on Christmas Eve, and we had The. Most. Hectic. And. Least. Enjoyable. Christmas. Holiday. EVER. Between working part-time, being overextended with volunteer/ministry commitments, family gatherings and several meetings concerning our new home, time was something I just did NOT have enough of. That resulted in the Christmas holiday being one great, big "TO DO LIST" with things getting checked off as they were done. Work Christmas Eve? Check. Christmas Eve service at church? Check. Christmas Eve gathering at my mom's house? Check. Christmas morning service at church? Check. Opening presents with kids in 10 minutes or less after church? Check. Driving out to hubs' side of the family for Christmas dinner? Check. It literally wasn't until Monday morning, Dec. 26th, that I could finally breathe and relax. I HATED the way my family's Christmas holiday unfolded this year. I do NOT like to rush around. I like to ENJOY the holiday and STOP to be THANKFUL for what it really means. I'm already thinking through how we'll make next year a complete opposite from this year. Christmas is too important to me to treat it like a "To Do List." New Year's Eve (after I got home from work) was nice and quiet. It was a wonderful way to start the new year. Hubs and I were in bed at 11:30PM. Ahhhhh...

So there you have it! A super crazy-long post to recap 2011! Whew! And in case you missed it, take a look at this...

Chase - January 2011:

Chase - December 2011:

My baby done growed up.

Where's the Post?

2012-01-02T06:00:00.000-05:00

Okay, so it's 10:29 PM on Sunday, January 1, 2012, and I just started feeling guilty about not having a fresh, new post ready to hit the blog Monday morning. So I thought I'd share a cool YouTube video with you guys. Only I logged into my YouTube account, and it doesn't seem I've uploaded anything exciting recently. And no new video gems on my iPhone, either.

Poo.

Then I thought I should maybe do a fantastic recap post of 2011, sharing about what we experienced over the past 12 months. But did I mention it's 10:29 PM already? And I'm tired. So apparently no really awesome 2011 recap post will be happening after all.

Poo.

Oooh! Then I figured I'd just post some amazing new pictures of my kids! Everyone loves pictures of my kids, right? Haha! Only, too bad. I don't have any awesome new pictures to share, either.

Poo.

I guess I'll just wish everyone a Happy 2012 and raise my imaginary glass of sparkling white grape juice to both of my blog readers and wish you all a happy, healthy and love-filled year! Thanks for sticking with me and for joining us on our journey. You guys rock.

Oh, and P.S. My resolution (along with 80 million other people) is to lose weight this year. Ya'll will help me with that, right???

Breeze

2011-12-30T06:00:00.004-05:00

I SO love the fact that we can cruise with the windows down in December. I love living in the south! Obviously the kids were loving the breeze, too! :)

LO's face especially cracks me up...

And I love Chase's new hairdo in this one...

Happy December, y'all!

Our First Visit

2011-12-29T06:00:00.008-05:00

Whoa. Yesterday was NOT a pleasant day for me. I don't know what I came down with, but I felt absolutely miserable yesterday! And it was awful because I had so much I wanted/needed to get done around the house but literally didn't have the strength to do much more than yell at LO to stop irritating the crap out of Chase and to make a couple of PB&Js. Ugh. Awful. I finally started feeling better last night after a long, hot shower and a turkey croissant.

Anywho, so I've been stockpiling all the stuff we've seen, done, compiled, selected, discussed, etc. concerning our new house since we started this process back in October, and I can finally let that stuff slowly filter out here on the blog. I'll try not to bore the pants off anybody, but I do want to share the fun stuff!

During one of our first trips to OUR homesite on December 18th, we took bunches of pictures. I thought I'd share a few of those with you guys today.

Here I am standing at our property line.

And here I am at our other property line. I'm such a dork.

My beautiful girl with a pic of our new home!

Here's my sweet family checking out our new yard!

LO's super excited about building a new home -- with stairs and everything! Haha!

My sweet boy. Such a cutie!

Love this crinkle face of his!

After scoping out our lot, we ended up at the playground near the pool that is literally across the street from our lot. We love this!

My girl on the swings! She can really get herself moving! And I love that I only have to push one kiddo on the swings now. :)

I'll be posting some pics of our floor plan, color selections, etc. soon. I get so excited about this stuff! Although I'm guessing you guys aren't too stoked about my upcoming blog posts on building our new home. I kind of caught on to that fact when I received ZERO comments on my big announcement post on Sunday. Haha! So sorry if this stuff isn't interesting to you guys, but I gotta keep it real! :)

It's That Time Again!

2011-12-28T06:00:00.001-05:00

Guess what time is quickly approaching once again?

PROJECT PACI.

That's right! It's time to get Chase to ditch the paci! I searched my blog archives and confirmed that we got rid of LO's paci about 2 weeks before her 2nd birthday. Looks like we're a bit behind schedule with Chase... haha! As if he conforms to any kind of a schedule -- too funny! But now that he's talking more and is so independent with his big boy bed, I think we're gonna give it a go this weekend. He only uses the paci at nap time and at night, so I'm hopeful it won't be too difficult. LO was super easy when we got rid of hers with the awesome "clipping" method my friend H shared with me. Check out the flashback post from 2009 below. :)

Thursday, July 16, 2009
Good Morning!

Monday was a fun day. Hubs and I (okay, really it was all me) decided it was time to phase out the pacifier ("paci") with LO now that she'll be TWO a week from Saturday. She's only ever used it at nap time and night time, so I knew it shouldn't be too painful. However, she really does love her paci and her teddy bear when it's time for sleep. I dunno. We thought we'd give it a go anyway and see what happens.

A good friend of mine told me she had read that you can cut off the tip of the paci, causing it to lose it's suction ability. Then you just cut off a little bit every 2 or 3 days until there's not much left of it. Usually by that time the child has already given up on it.

So starting at Monday's nap time, I gave LO two pacis, both of which had been "snipped." I closed the door and before I even got to the living room, she was standing at her door, wailing. It only lasted about 12 minutes before she tired herself out and went to sleep. That night, it was pretty much the same.

She's done very well at both nap time and bed time, although the first several minutes are a struggle. Quite frankly, she's more irritated at her paci than anything else. She doesn't even bother with it, but that doesn't stop her from being mad about the situation (understandably).

We've noticed she's not sleeping as "heavy" or as much as she had been previously, but we figure that's just how it's gonna be from now on. Case in point? This morning, she woke up around 7AM (normally it's not until 8:30-ish) but I refused to get my lazy self out of bed. After all, she has an entire toy box in her room that could occupy her for hours (ha-ha). However, this morning, she apparently found a better use for her time:

Isn't that just lovely? One entire drawer emptied, another half-emptied, clothes taken off hangers in her closet AND "Pat the Bunny?" Another casualty of her boredom. You can see it all ripped up on the glider chair.

Oh, and that toy box FULL of toys?? Not even touched.

Good times.

Christmas 2011 Recap

2011-12-26T23:01:00.000-05:00

Yay for Christmas! We FINALLY had a chance to relax and enjoy a little of the holiday festivities last night, and it was wonderful! Today has been even better -- NOTHING on the "To Do" list, nowhere to be, nothing to do... ahhhhhhh, pure bliss!!! We spent the night with hubs' family last night and came back home (to a WRECK of a home... so not like me to leave it such a mess when going out of town but there literally were not enough hours (minutes or seconds!) in the day yesterday!) with only ONE of our TWO littles. LO stayed behind with Gramma & PaPa for a little sleepover while hubs, Chase and I have been enjoying a leisurely (and QUIET!) afternoon/evening. We'll get our girl back tomorrow and all will be right with the world once more! ;)

So our Christmas day was quite honestly the most hectic, stressful and unmerry of any holiday I've ever experienced in my 30-something years. I hope we NEVER repeat the stresses and unjoy of the schedule we had to keep for this holiday season ever again! I'll tell you this much about working retail around the holidays: being forced to spend time AWAY from your family ON Christmas Eve truly truly truly SUCKS!!!!! I missed seeing my kids for over 24 hours due to my work schedule on Friday ('til 12AM!) and Saturday (6:45AM-4PM!) and I hope it NEVER happens again. Literally, I baked ZERO holiday treats and those of you who know me well are GASPING at the very thought, right?! Seriously. LO and I whipped up some "cake mix cookies" for Santa at 9:30pm on Christmas Eve. It's been that kind of holiday season around here. Gaw!

But once we were finally able to be together as a family and push our way through our overcommitted holiday schedule, it was truly wonderful! I am so very blessed to have the amazing husband and kids that I do! Thank you, Jesus!

So how about some pics of my kids? Don't mind if I do! Enjoy!

The Christmas stash.

TWO plates for Santa this year, one from LO and one from Chase. I think there were 9 cookies total plus a cup of chocolate milk (Santa's favorite). Would you believe Santa ate Every. Single. Cookie? Whoa! Hubs and I need to have a little chat before Santa's visit next year!

The stockings hung nowhere near the chimney because we don't have one! Haha! But we will next Christmas! ((WOOT!!)) Notice the ginormous bag of Peanut Butter M&Ms hubs left for me. Sweet!

My favorite Christmas morning pic ever! Both kids were in a slight sleepy stupor when they arrived in the family room to see all of the goodies. Please note LO's huge bouffant.

Time to open the stockings! Chase was very much enamored with a Cars 2 light-up spinning thing.

Seriously. He LOVED it. Great last-minute addition to his stocking! We got one for LO, too, but somehow he had confiscated hers...

Just a cute smiley pic of my precious boy! Love him!!

A new ball? Yes, please! :)

Um, I think LO was excited about this particular gift. Just a tad...

She was excited about The Ladybug Game, too!

Don't ask me why, but both of my kids love to watch Caillou. Seriously. He's a bald-yet-not-sickly-4-year-old boy with by far The. Most. Annoying. voice known to mankind. He's obnoxious. But the kids love him.

Can't wait for the four of us to try this one out! LO seems pretty stoked, too!

Chase got a computer for Christmas. Not that I have any notion that he'll leave my MacBook alone and just play with his new Leap Frog laptop. Especially since it doesn't get pbskids.org. But it seemed to hold his attention for at least a couple of minutes!

Such a big, handsome, grown-up little man!

Opening more presents with hubs' family. Both of the kids majorly scored with that clan (as did hubs and I, too).

Case in point about mommy's score? I'm so crazy excited about my new All-Clad measuring cups and spoons from Williams-Sanoma! You just can't imagine!!!

Yay for girlie toys! LO is stocked up on some serious Barbie gear. And yet, after all the gifts were unwrapped, it was Chase who was playing with the Barbie horse and LO playing with Chuck the Tonka truck! Haha!

A Little (okay, B-I-G!) Announcement...

2011-12-25T06:00:00.027-05:00

First of all, I want to wish all of my reader(s) a MERRY CHRISTMAS!! I will have plenty of fun pics and videos to share after our big day of fun today, but I did promise you guys my little announcement, so let's get to that...

Let's start with an easy little version of the game "Spot the Difference" to aid in the deciphering of this announcement of ours...

Can you spot the BIG difference between the two images below?

Image #1:

Image #2:

So, um, not too hard, right? If you happened to notice the big, fat SOLD sticker on the lot sign, then CONGRATULATIONS! You didn't really win anything per se, but you DO get a gold star for being observant! :)

And for those of you who may have missed it,

Hubs and I are building our dream home!!!

As you can imagine, this little project is something that has been taking up a TON of what little free time I have available these days, and unfortunately my little blog here has had to suffer the brunt of said lack of time. So sorry! I plan to do better over the upcoming weeks/months, but I'll warn you now: a LOT of it will be focused on the process of building our home. I thought about starting a separate blog just for the house, but honestly it made the idea of blogging more complicated and time-consuming to me, so just consider this your heads-up that I'll be posting a lot about the house, using using fun and new words like "soffit" and "gable" and including tons of pictures along the way. Because, let's face it: this blog has a dual purpose: 1) it entertains the crap out of you guys (haha!) and 2) it's essentially become my online journal/scrapbook. So I'm using it for the latter purpose and if it happens to entertain along the way, YIPPEE!! If not, my apologies in advance. ;)

So there you have it. We're going to build our new home! And I'm super-excited about it!!

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Merry Christmas Eve!

2011-12-24T14:20:00.001-05:00

You know it's an awesome, wonderful, super-merry Christmas when you see this:

Your daughter, wild fly-away hair and all, sporting a ride on her bike...

Meanwhile your son is rocking the yet-to-be-invented sport of golf ball hacking...

YouTube Video

This is shaping up to be a beautiful holiday. I can't wait to get home and share it with my family!!!

Merry Christmas Eve, everyone!!!

Posted from my iPhone

Merry Christmas Eve Eve

2011-12-24T00:28:00.002-05:00

This is what 9:40 PM on Christmas Eve Eve looks like for me:

Workin' 'til midnight, then back in tomorrow morning at 6:45 AM on Christmas Eve. Realized earlier when I left for work that it'd be 24 hours before I'd see my kids again. But I'm looking forward to squeezing every ounce of Christmas cheer for the weekend starting tomorrow at 4pm! Woot!

Merry early Christmas! Hug those loved ones of yours extra tight!!!

Posted from my iPhone

Shots n' Stuff

2011-12-22T09:20:00.000-05:00

Today is Chase's 2nd round of Synagis for the season. Poor fella gets a shot in each leg once a month through March to help protect him from a nasty virus called RSV. Typically kids with a special heart like Chase get these injections until they're 2. However, as those of you who know us well may agree, we've never been ones to follow protocol and do things "just because they tell us to." So we inquired about it and got approval from our insurance company to complete another round. So this will be Round 3 for our little guy. His cardiologist basically said IF you can get it, go for it! Haha! I'm not sure there's anything we CAN'T do when it comes to caring for our son. We are his only advocates and we take our job very seriously. Especially since he ended up with RSV back in March of this year and it seriously was just a temp and a yucky cough. It didn't require hospitalization, breathing treatments, or anything more serious than some Tylenol, lots of rest and a very patient mommy to get through it!

My poor boy... he has no idea what he's in for today! ;)

Other than some shots for my boy, I'm hoping to finish up some homemade Christmas gifts and wrap my last few gifts today. All this before working 5p-12a tonight! Sheesh! Same shift tomorrow night, too. I wanna know who's great idea it was to keep the mall open so late the week before Christmas? Are you guys seriously waiting until the very last minute to do your shopping? Are you seriously planning to head to the mall at 11pm to finish buying those last few gifts? Procrastinators always make me smile. :)

Anywho, enough randomness for one morning. I hope all of you are getting things done and are all kinds of prepared for your Christmas festivities with your family and friends!

Howdy!

2011-12-21T22:57:00.001-05:00

Hey, y'all! I got bored and updated my blog layout. It's nothing exciting or fancy, but I was tired of looking at the old design and gave it a tiny little facelift. Maybe one day I'll bring it up into the 21st century but for now, the current look will have to do.

Other than my little design update, not much is going on here. We're really looking forward to Christmas this weekend! The kids are excited and I'm happy to say I'm 99.9% done with my shopping and wrapping. Woot! This year we'll be spending Christmas Eve with my family after the Christmas Eve communion service at our church. I'm playing one or two piano pieces during the service and MAY even attempt to get LO to sing one of them with me! We'll see if/how that works out... ;) Then Christmas morning it'll be an early day as we'll have to get up and get the kids fed and dressed and ready for our 9:30am church service! It'll be weird not letting them open presents on Christmas morning, but I figure it's all good. After our service we'll head home and let the kiddos rip into their Christmas goodies, eat a yummy late brunch, then head out to spend the rest of the day with hubs' family! It'll be so great getting to see everyone for the holidays! This year will be especially fun because both LO and Chase will be into the presents and excitement of Christmas. I just love those kiddos so much and am so blessed to have the family I do. God has been so very good to us over the past two years especially and we continue to be grateful for His mercies.

I hope and pray all of you have a wonderful holiday season with your loved ones! Be sure to check back here on the blog on Christmas Day... I'll be sharing a special announcement with all of you lovely readers! ((NO! We're NOT expecting!!!)) LOL!

Teacher Gift Ideas

2011-12-15T10:32:00.000-05:00

I have a bad habit of coming up with these grand ideas for gifts, etc. literally months in advance, then letting my poor time management get the best of me, leaving me with only hours to put gifts together for special recipients.

That's where I find myself today.

Tomorrow is LO's last day of school until after the holidays, and I need teacher gifts! I don't have time to troll Pinterest all day, but there are a few ideas I'm considering from there. I just don't know if I'll have adequate time to execute any of these, or if I'll just end up with a Yankee Candle sampler from Kohl's to give to them instead.

Anywho, what do you think of these gift ideas for LO's teachers? I need something quick and easy to make... I like these ideas but I'm sure there are lots of other cutesie homemade gifts that don't look cheap. HALP!!

Quick and easy... just pick up some Bath & Body Works hand soap.

This is cute but maybe a little too time-consuming to put together before tomorrow...

I absolutely LOVE this idea! Cutest. Thing. Ever!

Homemade pillow spray! Cute, but maybe a bit too personal?

Flashback

2011-12-14T15:17:00.000-05:00

I was just sitting here, enjoying the peace & quiet of nap time, eating waaaay too many peanut butter M&Ms and thinking about where we were two years ago. The year was 2009 and it was the year our precious son was born. It's so hard to imagine sometimes that we actually lived through that nightmare of handing our son over for life-saving surgery at a mere 7 days old, of spending 5 weeks in the hospital and countless hours praying over his bedside for God's hand of healing and mercy on him.

Wow. God has brought us through so much and not a day goes by that I'm not overwhelmed with gratitude for all He's done.

So I was thinking I'd look back at what I blogged about 2 years ago. Thankfully by this time we were already home from MUSC and settled into life with our sweet boy. And it was just a fun post with a silly picture. I love it!

On a completely unrelated note... someone please get these peanut butter M&Ms away from me!!!

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2009

Birth Announcement
I've been trying to get a good picture of Chase to use for his birth announcement...

I don't think this is "the one."

Would you agree??

I think he was all smiled out and ready for me to put the durn camera away already!!

Punishment

2011-12-13T21:54:00.000-05:00

Okay, parents of preschoolers, I need some help here. Last week, while I was putting LO to bed, she mentioned something totally off-the-wall and random to me about having to run at school and getting tired and her teacher forcing her to keep running... It sounded crazy-weird but I thought I'd follow up with her teacher to hear the "real" story.

Turns out the "real" story was the same one as LO told me! So she and a few other friends had to do 2 laps at the beginning of recess.

Is that normal??

I mean, she's 4. She actually loves to run, which is one of my biggest concerns about using running as a form of discipline. I don't want her to grow up thinking running = punishment (like I do). ;)

Ugh. Apparently she had been asked many times to not talk during circle time and to quit playing with her neighbors. Then she had to sit in "time out" at her desk after several verbal warnings, but since the behavior continued, she was given 2 laps outside at the beginning of recess.

I checked the school's handbook and didn't note any mention of using physical activity as a form of punishment. I was very surprised by this, but I guess I'm curious if this is something that a lot of preschools do to aid in discipline?

Thoughts? Comments?

I think what gets me the most frustrated about the situation is that hubs and I received ZERO communication from the teacher about the issue. I had no idea she received several verbal warnings, had to sit in time out and certainly not that she had to run laps. How are we supposed to reinforce her discipline at home if we don't know what's going on at school? Grrrr. I emailed the teacher and mentioned how helpful it would be if we would receive some kind of communication when LO struggles with her listening skills. I guess there's not much more I can do. But I still just don't like the idea of my 4-year-old being forced to run laps. I don't know why, but it gives me horrid junior high flashbacks and I just don't think it's appropriate discipline for her age.

Am I crazy?

Hi!

2011-12-12T14:39:00.001-05:00

Can anyone tell me how in the world it can possibly be mid-December already?? Geez! I don't know where the time has gone! I guess now that I'm working part-time, I've lost all sense of time and honestly never have a clue what day of the week it is. Life is based on days LO is in school and days she is not. Happiness these days is actually finding time for ME to take a nap during the day.

There's a lot going on around here -- plenty of stuff to keep us busy! I'm sure that's the case with most people this time of year, but we've got a little extra added onto our plate that I'm not going to share just yet. In due time (NO, we're NOT expecting)...

LO is almost 4 1/2. How?? My goodness. It's like she's 14 already. She's reading like nobody's business these days. I've found some preschool books that were Level 1s, which are waaaay behind her skill level. So now we're on Level 2 books and she's tearing through 'em. I swear she'll be reading on a 2nd grade level before starting K5 next fall. Weird. But this girl's biggest issue these days is listening, or more accurately, NOT listening. It drives me crazy. I don't get it! Why do we have to repeat ourselves 12 times and even then she doesn't do (or stop doing) what we've asked. Man, does she ever love to irritate the crap out of Chase. I'm guessing that's normal? Being the youngest of 4 girls, I at least can recognize the fact that older siblings pick on younger siblings. I think that's just a part of nature. But I feel like there's an added bonus that Chase is a boy that LO gets a bigger kick out of it. I dunno. It's really annoying, though!

But she can sure look so sweet and innocent sometimes, right?

Chase is a handful of lovey goodness! Hubs and I absolutely LOVE this age. He just turned 2 in October and has started talking up a storm! I knew it was only a matter of time before his speech came around. Honestly I think he's been choosing to hold back to annoy us -- haha! He can say just about anything and will repeat everything he hears. He is the cutest! I'm so hoping he doesn't go from the sweet and lovely 2s into an obnoxious 3 year old like his sister did. I remember she was sweet and lovely... once upon a time. Hubs and I are enjoying every second with Chase and are trying to squeeze the sweetness out since I'm sure he'll be a wild and rambunctious boy within the next year or two... ((sigh))

I pretty much melt when I see this face.

So Christmas shopping went fabulously for me this year (I *heart* Amazon) and I'm about 98% done. The presents are already wrapped and under the tree (minus the ones from the Big Guy himself, which are wrapped and stowed away in a secret hiding spot). We're looking forward to spending time with my family on Christmas Eve and hubs' family on Christmas Day. I'm also looking forward to our Christmas morning service at church because it will be the last time I play the piano. Not that I'm excited about that being over (because I'm NOT), but excited about what God has in store for my family in the months and years ahead.

I've been doing quite a bit of baking lately, but I'm really interested in trying out some new recipes. Anyone have anything special they make during the holidays? I'd love some cookie recipes, but also some yummy meal ideas would be swell. Me and my crockpot are **tight** these days so if you have any to-die-for crockpot recipes, send 'em my way!!

I hope your holiday plans and activities are going well! I'm grateful for those of you who take the time to check in on us every once in a while. I have to say my favorite thing is not having a reason to HAVE to blog (i.e. doctor visit updates, surgeries, etc.). It's such a blessing to have a healthy 2-year-old, and even though I know that Fontan is looming in 2012 (most likely), I can't help but focus on NOW. It's my favorite time of the year! Time with my family during the holidays... the best gift of all!

I'll be back soon -- I promise! ;)

2-Year Checkup

2011-11-11T10:11:00.000-05:00

Chase had his 2-year checkup today and, although he was NOT in the mood to deal with medical personnel this morning, he did a great job and we have great results! No questions or concerns from me, which was a first! Everything seems to be on track and his doctor doesn't have any concerns about anything! Yay!

And oh my word! I cannot believe this kid's placement on the height/weight charts! He weighed in at just over 27.5 lbs., putting him in the 47th percentile for weight! And he was 35 1/4 inches tall, in the whopping 81st percentile for height! How crazy is that? I believe he had quite a growth spurt recently when it comes to height specifically. He's now able to turn the lights on/off using the light switches, which I swear he was waaaaay too short to reach just a month ago!

So we're completely and totally blessed and thankful to have a healthy little 2-year-old boy! His next doctor appointment isn't until May (cardiology) and then again in October (well child checkup)! What an amazing blessing!!!!!

Way to go, Chase! :)

Cardiology Appointment Results

2011-11-04T00:04:00.001-04:00

I owe you guys a serious blog post or two (hello, Chase's new bedroom, Halloween, cardiology appointment, etc.!?) but this'll have to be a short n' sweet one tonight. We are VERY blessed to share that Chase's cardiology check-up this morning was fantastic! Praise the Lord! While we did have some "issues" with the office staff (let's just imagine 20 patients, 4 exam rooms and 1.5 nurses... you do the math!) and it took a whopping 3 hours to get in and out of there, Chase was his typical Rock Star self and amazed the crap out of everybody! He's up to 28 lbs. and 34" tall. When the doctor was reviewing the notes before coming in to speak with us (after the BPs, echo, etc.), he saw the weight (which was actually 12.5kg) and thought to himself, "Hmmm... So what do we have here? A 3-year-old hypoplast..." ((reading through notes until he sees Chase's 2nd birthday was just last week)) and was in complete shock & awe that our little 28 lb. hypoplast is just barely 2 years old! This is a GREAT thing to hear! We have definitely been blessed by Chase's weight gain and the fact that he's never been on an ng-tube (other than during his first surgery/hospital stay), never even had a mention of a g-tube, never had any oral aversions, didn't have to fortify his bottles, etc. Weight gain has never really been an issue with him and we are truly blessed by that!

Anywho, we head back in 6 months -- exactly what I wanted to hear! I am continually amazed at God's goodness and faithfulness when it comes to this special miracle child He blessed me with. I will continue to pray each day for His continued blessings in our lives!

Here's a pic of Chase today during his echo. Not a care in the world! Nothing that a Go, Diego! Go! DVD, his monkey and a paci can't take care of anyway!

Thanks for your prayers and continued support!!!

Cardiology Appointment

2011-11-02T22:05:00.000-04:00

Well, it's that time again. We head in tomorrow (Thursday) morning at 9:00 AM EST for Chase's cardiology appointment. We haven't seen the cardiologist since May 6th -- 6 months ago. As a heart mom, you're always nervous for these appointments, afraid of what they'll find during the echo and other tests. And you're concerned about how your now 2-year-old son will handle laying still for 20-30 minutes while a technician performs an echo. And you're anxiously waiting for the cardiologist to mention to "F" word: Fontan -- the final scheduled surgery in the 3-stage series Chase is undergoing to replumb his heart to function with only one ventricle.

I'm fearful of what tomorrow holds -- I'd be lying if I said otherwise. Those who know me well know that I live with a constant state of fear over my son's future every second of every day, and while this is something I'd never want to live without (for obvious reasons), it's something I struggle with keeping below the surface and not let it negatively impact my life so I can still function as a wife, mom, friend, employee, etc.

So yes, I'm fearful of tomorrow.

But I have hope. Hope in a Father Who already knows the plans He has for my son. And I trust Him. Completely. It's not always easy, but I know His will is all I've ever wanted for me, for my marriage and for my children. I'm so very grateful for each and every day He gives me with my son. And I will continue praying daily for His continued provision in our lives.

Please keep Chase in your prayers tomorrow morning. I'll share an update as soon as I can. And thank you to those of you who are still reading here... even though I've been very lame with my lack of consistent posting over the past few months. Your continued support is appreciated more than you know!

P.S. I'll share pics and a recap of his new toddler bedroom soon... I need to finish the valence before I can take the "after" pictures!

Throw Back

2011-10-28T23:37:00.000-04:00

I'm really excited for tomorrow (Saturday)! We're moving Chase into his toddler bed! Woot! I'm extra excited because I did a lot of work on his theme -- including making his comforter (love!) as well as a night light and lamp shade. I think it'll be super cute and I can't wait to see how he reacts to it!

Speaking of... I thought I'd post a throw back to the big day when we moved LO into her toddler bed. She was 2 months shy of 2 years old and was STOKED to have her new "big girl" bed! Enjoy!

Saturday, May 23, 2009
Big Day!
Today has been a very big day in our household. For starters, LO slept in her "big girl bed" for the very first time last night! She was absolutely amazing. She played with a little toy piano for about 5 minutes, then quiet. We checked in on her before we went to bed and she was out cold in her crib, snuggled nicely under her blanket. We were SHOCKED! She did wake up around 3AM crying, and hubs went in to check on her. She was standing by the door (closed, of course) like she wasn't sure what to do next. Hubs helped her back into her bed, handed her teddy and a paci, and she was out in no time.

The pic above was taken as she watched daddy carry the front rail of her bed away. She said, "Oh, cooool!"

This is her "fake sleeping" in her new big girl bed! She was SOOOO excited!!!

Here she is striking a pose for mommy!

We celebrated her major milestone accomplishment with breakfast at Cracker Barrel -- usually one of mommy's favorites but very disappointing this morning. I've been feeling nauseous since we ate and haven't been able to eat anything other than a few crackers this afternoon. ((sigh)) I guess I need to remember that I am pregnant, with a BOY, who happens to be my husband's offspring. If you knew what I know about my husband's childhood, you'd know we've got our work cut out for us once TO arrives.

So speaking of TO... I think we've found "the one." You know, the perfect furniture to outfit our son's bedroom (still SO weird to type that!). We had narrowed it down to two options: Munire Majestic or Bonavita Metro.

This is the Munire Majestic convertible lifetime crib (we'd also get the 5-drawer dresser, not pictured here):

And the Bonavita Metro collection:

While I haven't seen the Metro collection in person yet (we're going this afternoon to check out the floor model), I'm leaning heavily towards that option. It's just such a clean and contemporary design and I really am in love with it! Doesn't it look just gorgeous converted into a full-size bed? I think any teenage boy would be grateful to have such a luxury!

There's a pretty good chance we'll be ordering TO's furniture this afternoon, which is a GOOD THING because they say it takes anywhere from 10 to 12 weeks to arrive!

Woot!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Chase!!!

2011-10-26T08:13:00.000-04:00

First, a reflection from two years ago today:

Monday, October 26, 2009

Meet our sweet boy, Chase! He was born on Monday, October 26, 2009 at 3:37 PM. He weighed 8 lbs. 9 oz. and was 20-1/4 inches long!

We are so blessed! More to come soon!

What a miracle and a blessing it is to have this sweet boy in our lives! Not a second goes by that I don't thank the Lord for His hand of health and protection over Chase. Not all parents of children with CHDs are blessed with the opportunity to celebrate their child's 2nd birthday with a party, cake, gifts and hugs & kisses, which is why we cherish even more the fact that God has allowed Chase to be with us for 2 years. What a miracle! And what a blessing he is to us! I can't say it enough!!!

Mommy loves you, sweet Chasey-poo!

Reflections

2011-10-24T10:05:00.000-04:00

Two years ago today, I was 203 miles away from home and 39 weeks pregnant with my little miracle baby. I was anticipating an induction at MUSC in Charleston, SC and was fearful of what the future held for my precious baby with a special heart. I thought I'd share the blog post I wrote that day -- 2 years ago today -- as I reflect on all that God has brought us through and blessed us with over the past 2 years.

Saturday, October 24, 2009
OhMyGoodness!
I'm truly having a hard time believing the time is almost here!

Today is SATURDAY.

I'm going to be admitted to the hospital TOMORROW.

Chase will be here on MONDAY.

It's all so surreal! I am happy to report that I finally got around to packing my hospital bag today. I guess that's part of what makes an induction so convenient -- I can plan accordingly. And it's no surprise to me that Chase hasn't shown any signs of making an early debut. But now that the bag is packed and I'll be heading to the hospital in less than 24 hours, I think it's time for it to finally settle in that I'm getting ready to have a baby!

Although the future is VERY scary to me and I fear for my son's health and survival in the coming days, I know that ultimately we are all in God's hands and that He has a perfect plan for my family. I'm not at all loving that I will have ZERO control over our circumstances. I'm not loving the fact that I most likely will not be able to hold my son for the first time until the night before his surgery, which very well might not be scheduled for 7 or more days after he's born. I'm not loving being 3-1/2 hours from home -- from our friends, our family, the house we call home. It's really weird to prepare to go to the hospital to give birth to a baby that you know you won't be bringing home with you anytime soon. I almost feel like I'm just going in for a "procedure" of some kind, and then a few months later, I'll get to go back and pick up a baby to bring home with me. It's so strange! I've never felt anything like this before. But I'm truly anticipating that God will do wonderful things over the next several weeks and I'm so grateful I get to witness His work first-hand!

On a totally random note... after a bit of a battle with Amazon and FedEx (they showed my package was delivered to Seattle, WA when it actually was delivered across the street by mistake!) we DID get our cellular signal booster thingy today and it DOES seem to have improved our AT&T signal strength inside the house. Praise the Lord! Now I'm just hoping and praying the signal inside the hospital works!

A Birthday Bash!

2011-10-22T13:56:00.002-04:00

We had a wonderful morning celebrating Chase's 2nd birthday with family and friends! I think our little birthday boy had a wonderful time and he is definitely digging all the new toys, books, DVDs and games he scored. I can't help but thank God for His continued hand of protection and health on our sweet boy. So many families aren't able to celebrate such a big milestone for their CHD child, so while I am incredibly grateful and blessed to celebrate Chase's 2nd birthday, my heart is still overwhelmed at the grief and pain my fellow heart parents are going through as they grieve their child rather than celebrate another birthday. My thoughts and prayers continue to be with those precious families.

So let's take a look at a few party pics from today!

I'll start with the cake (shocker!)... The bottom square tier is a chocolate-chip pumpkin cake with pumpkin spice buttercream filling. The top round tier is a traditional vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream. The cupcakes were just chocolate with vanilla buttercream. I made smaller tiers than I typically do because I didn't want to have any leftover cake. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on whether you're trying to avoid sugary desserts or not), we still had plenty left over. Boo.

Another pic of the cake!

Still the cake!

The cupcakes!

Watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse during the party!

I can't tell what he was eating here, but it's obvious he wasn't a big fan. ;)

Yummy food! Yay for parties!!!

Opening presents! He wasn't too into the process... especially if it was clothes (sorry, Mo!), but he sure was happy to receive lots of fun new toys, books and games!

Dance. Star. Mickey. Enough said!

Mmmmm! Cupcake!

Big sister couldn't be too far from the spotlight or center of attention. Such a silly girl!

And of course, a little party favor to send home with out party guests! Somehow I ended up with two left over... gotta figure out who missed out on the cookie baking fun!

We had a super fun day celebrating our sweet little miracle, Chase!

Birthday Cake

2011-10-14T06:00:00.002-04:00

I'm trying to plan the design of Chase's 2nd birthday cake, and I'm getting super excited about the vision in my head! I've found several cake ideas and I plan to pull a little from each one.

Idea 1: First of all, I'd never attempt the Mickey Mouse ears on the top tier of this cake. I think it looks a little wonky here and I'm sure I couldn't do any better. So I like the simplicity of this one without the ears on top. It captures the basic color scheme I've been using for the party (red, black, white and yellow). I think the only modification I have in mind (besides losing the ears) is making the bottom tier square with the top tier still round. This cake has given me lots of useful inspiration!

Idea 2: Okay, so let's be honest... this one looks like Mickey's Clubhouse exploded all up on a cake. But I like the idea of placing the #2 on top and/or writing Chase's name at the top, although I haven't used stars anywhere in my party prep so I'd probably have to use a different shape. I like the idea of placing the figurines around the cake just to add a bit of "Clubhouse" to the cake since mine will be much more simple than this.

Idea 3: Okay, so this is super cute, too! Again, I'd lose the Mickey ears on top, mostly because I'm not at all confident in my skills to duplicate them to the level of perfection I'm after. I think this cake is the one that gave me the idea of using a square tier on the bottom with the round on top. Again, I probably won't work in the stars just because I haven't used them anywhere else, but I like the random Mickey silhouettes on the cake board.

I'm getting really excited to start working on Chase's cake! I think the smaller, round tier on top will be a chocolate-pumpkin cake with cream cheese filling, and I'll go more traditional with the larger, square tier on bottom by going with chocolate with buttercream filling. YUM.

I just have to take a moment to say how completely overwhelmed (in a good way!) I am to be planning a 2nd birthday party for my miracle son. God has brought him through so much and words cannot express how blessed I feel to have Chase in our lives! My heart breaks when I think of the many sweet ones with CHDs like Chase who earned their wings waaaaaay too soon. I wish we could celebrate with all of those precious little ones and I'll never understand God's plan (obviously) to take them so soon. I'm especially thinking of sweet Travis, whose birthday was just 3 days before Chase (also diagnosed with HLHS), and lost his battle all too soon on February 19, 2011. My heart and prayers go out to Nicole and Roger as they continue to deal with the pain that no parent should ever experience. Please keep them in your prayers.

Happy Birthday, Hubs!!!

2011-10-13T12:25:00.000-04:00

Today my darling hubs is celebrating his birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HUBS! I have been So. Incredibly. Blessed. with the amazing man God brought into my life and could not be more proud to have him as my husband. He's been a solid foundation for me when the rest of the world was ready to attack, and he is always my voice of reason (whether I like what he has to say or not). He is an amazing father and a wonderful husband and I'm so grateful to share my life with him.

Happy birthday, hubs!!!

I love you bunches!!!

Party Invite

2011-10-13T11:57:00.000-04:00

So I realized earlier today that I shared one of my favorite party additions (the custom water bottles), but I hadn't shared the invitation I created for Chase's birthday! So here's what I came up with -- obviously some details have been modified for privacy purposes.

What do you think?

And So it Begins...

2011-10-12T11:25:00.003-04:00

Chase's 2nd birthday party is next weekend, and of course the party planning and prep is well under way! Here's a little glimpse of one of my fave additions to any party: customized water bottles!

Check out the super fun details in the barcode and "nutrition" facts! :)

I love parties.

Posted from my iPhone

Blog Overhaul

2011-10-12T06:00:00.002-04:00

My blog is in major need of a fresh look for Fall. Anyone interested in busting out a free Fall blog overhaul? Haha! I think I know the answer to that! Grrr... I'll add this to my To Do list and hope it happens... eventually. ;)

Perfect Parfait

2011-10-11T19:51:00.001-04:00

Yesterday Chase and I ran to the grocery store to pick up a few things before heading to pick up LO from school. When we were finished shopping, I had a random craving to grab a Fruit n' Yogurt Parfait from McDonald's.

I figured it's somewhat "healthy" (at least considering all the other junk one can get at McDonald's). I've recently started trying to watch my sugar and carbohydrate intake and have been attempting to limit both as much as I possibly can. But I figured I really ought to cut back on my fast food purchases, too, whether healthy or not.

When we got home, I decided to whip up my own version of this parfait, knowing I could control exactly what would go into it. So I busted out the following ingredients, which I happened to have on hand at home, to make my own delicious version:

Oh my word! This tasty little treat was fantastic! I would definitely recommend whipping one of these up as a quick and healthy snack! And maybe, just maybe, I can get one or both of my kids interested in this snack, too! That'd sure be nice...

Yummy Warminess

2011-09-27T06:00:00.002-04:00

Since I've started working, I've found myself often tempted to make a beeline to the Starbucks located upstairs from the store where I work during every break opportunity. Since I am NOT a coffee drinker, there is only ONE beverage I drink from Starbucks: Hot Chocolate. And it's the best hot chocolate ever. I always order it "extra hot" -- which seems a bit redundant since it's already a hot beverage, but I like it super-duper, burn-the-taste-buds-off-your-tongue hot. And they're happy to oblige. And it's good. VERY good. Maybe too good, considering the number of trips I've made over there to quench this craving.

I've tried to duplicate Starbucks hot chocolate at home. I bought a milk frother thingy. No dice. I bought a nuggin' espresso machine just to steam the milk. Notsomuch. I've struck out with every attempt to duplicate this deliciousness.

Until now.

Enter the Starbucks Hot Chocolate recipe I found online over the weekend. OhMyGoodness. I never thought it'd actually be possible to duplicate the exact yumminess of Starbucks hot chocolate! But this recipe sure enough does! It is SO good. And SO easy. And SO good.

Without further ado, let me share this recipe with you.

Starbucks Hot Chocolate

Ingredients
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
whipped cream (optional)
Directions
Combine the water, cocoa, and sugar in a 16-ounce microwave-safe pitcher, such as a 2-cup glass measuring cup. Zap the mixture on high for 30 seconds, or until hot. Stir well to create chocolate syrup.
Add the milk to the chocolate syrup and microwave the mixture for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, or until hot. Add the vanilla and pour the drink into a 16-ounce coffee mug. Serve with whipped cream on top.
Make one 16-ounce (grande size) serving.

Seriously, if you're a hot chocolate connoisseur, you owe it to yourself to make a mug-full of this amazing recipe immediately! You will NOT be disappointed!

Enjoy!! :)

Happy 23 Months!

2011-09-26T13:50:00.000-04:00

Happy 23 Month Birthday to my handsome little sweetie!

Little Things

2011-09-21T15:20:00.001-04:00

It's the little things that make me happy. I finally ditched my massive Otterbox iPhone case for a fun, cute lil new one:

Now, this case really isn't "me," but my girl likes pink/purple and my boy is all about monkeys. So from that perspective, ya, I guess this case really IS "me."

Told ya -- it's the little things! ;)

Posted from my iPhone

Soccer Fun

2011-09-14T23:16:00.000-04:00

LO had soccer practice again tonight, and this time mommy remembered to bring the good camera! Enjoy!

Such determination!

I just love the way it looks like this little teammate of hers is checking out her mad soccer skills!

Just another day on the soccer field...

Look at her go! She's really getting into this soccer stuff! And she's having fun, too!

Run, LO! Dribble that ball! ((at least I think that's what they call this in soccer))

The team played a scrimmage against each other and they all had to put on these ginormous jerseys. I just love how animated this girl of mine is! Haha!

Finally time to lose those over-sized jerseys!

Whoops! Jerseys back on! Run, LO! Run!

I'm sorry, but I can't help but see an actual soccer player in my daughter's little 4-year-old body. She just looks like she knows what she's doing out there!

Of course this handsome little fella had to get into the soccer action... Love him so!

Cutie pie!

Whaa? A Blog Update? Finally!

2011-09-13T15:40:00.000-04:00

Okay, so here I am again posting another "update" blog post because I've just been too darn busy to post here more regularly. I'm so sorry! But as it probably is with your busy life, too, things have been non-stop for us lately! I can barely catch my breath! I'm squeezing in a few spare moments to put up this post while also doing laundry, creating a new website, fielding calls about an event I'm planning this weekend for 250 people in Charleston, and 1,200 other things I can't begin to describe at this very moment. My brain cells are running on empty so I'll keep this short n' sweet.

Here's what my lovely kiddos have been up to recently.

Chase and I went to a park to play while LO was at school. It was an epic fail though, because it was about 30 minutes away from our house and, lo and behold, CLOSED for remodeling when we got there. I was totally bummed. But Chase and I wandered the baseball fields and Frisbee golf course for a while so it didn't feel like such a loss. He's so cute. :)

LO starting playing her first ever "organized" team sport: SOCCER! She's super excited about it, and I'm really glad she'll have a chance to run off the overwhelming excess amount of energy she somehow stores up each day. Here she is trying on her soccer stuff.

She had her first practice Monday night. As you can see, Chase wasn't to be left out of the spotlight. He showed us he has some mad soccer skills as well. See?

Now for the fun stuff -- the videos!!! Here's a short clip of LO practicing with her team. If you ask me, she's got a little bit of an athelete in her!

This one is hilarious! You gotta watch it full screen and keep your eye on LO. The whole team has to run to the pile of balls on the opposite end of their field and bring them back to the coach. The first one back gets to be the "helper" at Wednesday's practice. LO got a late start (she's almost NEVER paying attention), but seems to be making up ground. She grabs her ball, turns to run back and <> she gets knocked down by another avid ball-seeker. But she picks herself up and ~~gallops~~ runs back as instructed. Precious!

I was at our local Costco today picking up some bottled water for our big Palmetto Hearts reunion event this weekend. I had to bring my momma with me because she's a current Costco member. I, however, am a former Costco member. I realized after our 2 hours in Costco why my husband didn't want to renew our membership. That durn store is DANGEROUS! Let's just say a vat o' goldfish, more gummy vitamins than any human should require, a toy storage/organizer, jumbo Mr. Potato Head, 2 books and a 2T monkey outfit later, we were finally ready to leave the store. I now understand that it wasn't the $50 annual membership fee that hubs wasn't wanting to keep paying... it was the minimum $150 Costco shopping sprees he was wanting to eliminate. Ooops!

But let me at least attest to the fact that I didn't go crazy-overboard. Case in point? The most adorable, BIGGEST stuffed Mickey Mouse I've ever seen! Even LO was in love with it at first sight.

In the meantime, Chase was sporting around on a Lightening McQueen ride-on toy.

That is, until he saw his glorious, larger-than-life friend, Mickey Mouse. OhMyWord! This child for whatever reason has fallen head over heels in love with Mickey Mouse! So much, in fact, that I'm 99.9% sure his 2nd birthday next month will have a Mickey Mouse theme. He hugged Mickey. He kissed Mickey. It was unbearably sweet! But did I purchase the almost $40 stuffed animal? Nooooooo! As much as it killed me, I left Mickey there with his other Clubhouse friends... vowing to somehow figure out a way to get that guy to show up at Chase's birthday party in his gift stash! ((ahem... family? friends? anyone?)) :)

Last weekend we surprised the kids with a trip to see Sesame Street Live. We took LO when she was about 1 1/2, so we thought Chase would really enjoy it, too. He LOVES "cookie" and "melmo" so off we went for a fun morning out with the kids!

As you can see, Chase wasn't too sure about those larger-than-life furry monsters.

But he quickly found the show to be quite enjoyable!

LO was having a great time, too1

We were in the 2nd row on the floor in front of the stage, so the view was awesome!

Our Sesame Street friends!

Life is much better with a little Elmo to chew on during the performance...

Yay!

Big Bird!

Wow! This show is even MORE fun when there's FOOD involved! Yum!

Our new friends!

Confetti and streamers after the big finale. LO loved it!

So there. That's a tiny glimpse into what we've been up to over the past few weeks. Of course LO's started K4 a few weeks ago, and I'm the Room Coordinator for her class. Lots of volunteer stuff to organize. And I'm apparently her soccer team's Manager, which really just means the organized person who sends email reminders to parents about games and jersey colors. And I'm working on a new website for Palmetto Hearts. And I'm coordinating our Palmetto Hearts Pediatric Cardiology Reunion in Charleston this weekend. And I started my part-time job a few weeks ago. And I've got Chase's 2nd birthday party to start putting together. And did I mention I'm also forming a CHD Support Group for the families in my area? And somebody is still supposed to do the laundry, cleaning and cooking around the house. Oh, was that supposed to be me? ((sigh)) Our cupboards are so bare it's not even funny. Guess I'd better get back to work!

Thanks for your patience and continued blog support! Sorry I've been so lame lately, but I hope I'll do better soon! :)

Healthy Bites: Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

2011-08-30T08:00:00.000-04:00

These are BY FAR the BEST oatmeal raisin cookies on the planet! They are soft, moist, chewy and incredibly delicious! And the bet part is they are healthy! There's only 2 Tbsp. of butter in the entire recipe! I know, right?!

Seriously. These things are the best. They keep for days, assuming they last that long. My kids loved them. Hubs loved them. I loved them. But keep in mind they are only "healthy" if you avoid eating half a dozen in one sitting, which -- believe me -- isn't as easy as it sounds.

Enjoy!

Photo from www.davidlebovitz.com

Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies 
About 36 cookies
Adapted from Nick Malgieri’s book, Perfect Light Desserts: Fabulous Cakes, Cookies, Pies, and More Made with Real Butter, Sugar, Flour, and Eggs (HarperCollins).

Ingredients:

1 cup flour (spoon flour into dry-measure cup and level off)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar 
1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
1 1/3 cups rolled oats (not instant) 
1/2 cup dark raisins (or dried cranberries)
2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper, foil, or silicone mats

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and set the rack on the lower and upper thirds of the oven.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and granulated sugar until smooth. Mix in the brown sugar, then the egg, applesauce, and vanilla.
Stir in the dry ingredients, then the oats and raisins.
Drop the batter by rounded teaspoons 2-inches apart on the baking sheets and use a fork to gently flatten the dough.
Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they “look dull on the surface but are moist and soft,” according to Nick. Rotate baking sheets during baking for even heating.

(I made mine bigger, so whatever size you make them, just bake them until they look as directed by Nick.)

Storage: Once cool, store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.

Happy 22 Months!

2011-08-26T06:00:00.002-04:00

Happy 22 Months to my handsome Chase!

You are simply amazing and I love every second with you!!!

Update on Stuff

2011-08-24T09:28:00.000-04:00

Chase had a follow-up appointment with ENT yesterday and everything looked great! We go back in 6 months for another follow-up. He's talking a LOT more and it's so exciting! On a side note, my precious heart boy got KICKED OUT OF THE MUSC CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL ATRIUM yesterday! That's right! Apparently it's only for INPATIENT families, which we were never aware of. I can totally see the need to limit exposure to germs for the inpatient kids who are using the Atrium, and not wanting families "off the street" like us to be in there with them. But it was so sad to have to drag Chase out of there while we were killing time before his ENT appointment. Poor kid. But we had fun outside instead. :)
LO is loving her K4 class! I'm really excited to see what she learns this year and how prepared she'll be for Kindergarten next Fall.
I'm serving as the Room Coordinator for LO's K4 class. This means I'm the one coordinating all the volunteers we need for field trips, special snacks, parties, etc. I wanted to do it so I'd have a chance to meet the other parents and hopefully make some connections so LO can have play dates with her new friends outside of her M-W-F school schedule. I'm hoping I haven't taken on too much, though. We had a meeting for all Room Coordinators last Friday and I got a massive notebook with LOTS of information in it. It was kind of overwhelming! And this Friday, there's a volunteer kickoff for all the parents to attend and I'll be manning our classroom's table, providing information to parents about volunteer opportunities, etc. Hopefully we'll have a great turnout!
I'm still serving on the Palmetto Hearts board as the VP of Community Programs. We had a heart family gathering at a local indoor playground/inflatables place on Sunday. I hate I wasn't able to be there, but we had lots of heart families come out and they had a great time! We had all of our families bring items to donate to a local children's shelter, so I look forward to meeting needs in our community on behalf of Palmetto Hearts! The major thing taking up my time here is planning our annual Pediatric Cardiology Reunion, which is less than a month away!!! There are LOTS of little details to take care of (now that the big stuff is all scheduled and in place), and it's slightly overwhelming! I've never attended one of our reunions so it's kind of scary planning an event I've never attended! Haha! I'm sure it'll all come together fabulously, though.
I'm in the process of making a bootable OS X 10.7 disc for my software collection. Obviously totally random and useless information (for most of you), but I'm pretty excited about it! Especially after my latest hard drive failure, including the replacement of the cable that connects the hard drive to the logic board.
I'm also in the process of clearing out an external 1TB hard drive to use as my Time Machine back-up. I haven't backed up my new hard drive and it's been almost 3 weeks or so since I installed it. ACK! This is one of those must-get-done things that always seems to land at the bottom of my To Do List. Not today! I'm hoping to be all good and ready for an overnight Time Machine backup of this hard drive tonight. Yay! for data backups!!! :)
Chase just walked by and really stinks. I guess I ought to take care of that... BeRightBack!
Whew! That was nasty!
I'm working on the design and management of two different websites in my "spare" time. For free, of course. Haha! Actually, I guess they are both considered "ministry opportunities" since they are for my church. I really enjoy doing that kind of thing, mostly because I can squeeze in the work in between the rest of life. :)
Who's in charge of the laundry around here? And why are there dishes piled up in the kitchen? Oh, wait... I guess that's me! I hate being so busy and preoccupied that I can't take care of my house as well as I like to. Hubs is awesome and has been a HUGE help, but it makes me feel so bad when I can't stay on top of the laundry, dishes, bathroom cleaning, floors, etc. Plus it just gives me a headache to look around and see a zillion things that I should have on my To Do List but they aren't on the list at all! Yikes!
I guess another thing that has kept me busy is my new part-time job! I started last Friday with 3 days of training and have another 3 days of training this week. I'm really excited about this opportunity and can't wait to get started "officially!" It's nice that we have the flexibility to allow me to work part-time while hubs has his full-time job and we won't require any help with the kids. That was the most important thing to me. It wouldn't be worth it to me to have a part-time job if it meant we had to arrange to have other people take care of my kids for me. No way! Raising my kids is my #1 job and biggest priority! So I'm super stoked that this is working out and can't wait to see where it leads! Yay!
Have I mentioned I'm patiently awaiting the arrival of my newest niece? She was due to join us on August 18th but is taking her sweet time. She WILL be here by Friday, though, so I'm super excited!! I can't wait to meet her!

I guess that's about it for now. As you can see, it's been a busy few weeks around here! Blogging has taken a back seat to life, so I apologize to those of you who actually read my blog and keep up with us. I'll try to do better -- I promise!!!

Maybe I can get some new pics of the kids up here soon, too... I just love pictures of my kids!

First Day of K4!

2011-08-15T09:08:00.000-04:00

Well, my big 4-year-old girl started K4 this morning! I can hardly believe it! She's turning into such a big, beautiful, smart, compassionate young lady! I'm so very proud of her! She was really excited to start her day today and kept pushing me along ("Time to go, Mommy!").

Of course I took her picture before we left. She was so excited to wear her new purple sequin shirt from Target. So beautiful!

1st Day of K4 (2011)!

Compare this one to last year!

1st Day of 3-year-old Preschool (2010)

Here she is in the car on our way to school. We had a great conversation on the way there while sitting through the traffic. She recited the Pledge of Allegiance, the Pledge to the Christian Flag, and spelled her first, middle and last name. Guess she was brushing up on her skills! :)

Here she was in the car last year before we got out of the car to go to her first day of preschool.

On our way to 3-year-old preschool (2010).

This year she was stylin' big time! I wanted to get a pic before she got out of the car and she insisted on putting on her shades first. The sun was shining right in her face, so I don't blame her. She's so stinkin' cute!

She pretty much dragged me through the main mall area towards her classroom. We were able to stop and see her teacher from last year before heading into her class, and she was SUPER excited about that! We got into her class, washed her hands, and she headed straight for the train table (imagine my surprise. not.). I had to convince her to sit down with the rest of her class and play with Play-Doh like she was supposed to be doing. :)

And of course, my favorite picture of her standing outside of her classroom from last year!

2010

I can't wait to hear all about her first day of K4! I know she's gonna have a great time! There were at least 4 boys from her class from last year that are in her K4 class, so I know it'll be nice for her to see some familiar faces. She's gonna do great!

Now mommy and Chase are off to enjoy some quality mommy-son time. I see a walk around the neighborhood and some 1st-day-of-school-gift shopping in our future! :)

Ready, Set, Go!

2011-08-10T06:00:00.002-04:00

Chase and I were having fun last night and I couldn't help but nab a video of this. It's PROOF that he actually CAN talk! He never wants to do it on demand, especially for his Speech Therapist. So I figured at least this way I can prove without a doubt that the boy CAN and WILL speak! Yay! He just has to WANT to do it. :)

Family Vacay

2011-08-09T11:15:00.000-04:00

We had a great time in Hilton Head for our family vacation last weekend! I promised some pics, so here ya go!

These first two were taken before we left for vacation and quite honestly, I have no idea what Chase was eating. But these pics are too cute not to share! :)

Handsome boy!

Now before we could leave for vacation, I had to address Chase's crazy hair. It was getting too long in the back and around the ears, so I bought some hair scissors from Amazon and gave it my best shot. This was my first time ever cutting anybody's hair. I found he would sit still and let me work if I kept juice and cheese puffs nearby and a movie playing for entertainment. Here's the before:

And the after! You can see he made good use of those cheese puffs. I'm not super happy with my first cut, but I'm sure I'll do better with more practice.

Now on to the beach! I'm pretty sure this was Chase's first attempt at walking in sand. We had him walk from the car, over the boardwalk and through the sand in 100 degree heat and he was quite the little champ! I started to feel bad for him as he waded through the sand so after I put the load of stuff I was carrying down at our spot, I went back and carried him the rest of the way. It was so stinkin' hot and his poor little cheeks were so pink!

Someone nearby found a crab, so we let them use our bucket as his temporary home. The kids were taking a look at it and of course Chase wanted to touch it. Daddy stopped him before the crab could get him!

LO having fun on the beach.

BIG ocean. Little girl.

Daddy and Chase heading to the water.

Our little aqua boy loved the ocean!

See?

LO was happy and content playing in the sand. She wasn't too consumed with playing in the water.

This was about as far out as she'd venture into the water.

Silly little boy!

He had the time of his life!

Time to play in the sand!

Probably watching his sister playing a few yards away.

Cutie pie!

I love my little man in a hat! Such a cutie!

As per usual, LO got lost coming back from the water and didn't know where we were. We watched her look around for a bit before finally catching her eye and waiving her over. :)

Mmmmm! Snack time!

My pretty girl!

Where's Chase? PEEK-A-BOO!

Little stud muffin.

Playing in the sand some more!

The sign near the lagoon off our back porch...

I'm pretty sure this is the ONLY picture I got of the kids TOGETHER during our vacation. And of course like a total loser, I didn't get a SINGLE FAMILY PHOTO of all of us together. Lame.

Good Night -- Literally!

2011-08-08T10:36:00.001-04:00

We just got home yesterday from a long weekend in Hilton Head, SC, and I've got lots of fun stories and pictures to share. But for now, I'm going to leave you with the single most useful, productive and peaceful purchase we've ever made: a $25 portable crib mattress.

Chase has NEVER been a fan of sleeping in the pack n' play, and we've always wondered if it's because he typically only sleeps in it the night before a procedure or surgery while we're in Charleston. He's a smart one, huh? But alas, we started troubleshooting and realized the cardboard "mattress" he'd been sleeping on was, we'll say, somewhat less than comfortable. We had tried piling up towels or extra blankets between said cardboard and the sheet, but it was always lumpy and just made for a miserable night's sleep for him (which, obviously, meant a miserable night's sleep for mommy & daddy, too).

So we bought this crib mattress and WHOA! You would NOT believe the difference it's made! We've used it on two trips so far, including our most recent family vacation to Hilton Head, and this child sleeps AMAZINGLY now! We're talking 12 hour nights of uninterrupted sleep, people! Seriously. Who knew such a cheap investment could make such a HUGE difference in our lives?

So while I will be sure to post some pics n' stuff from our vacation soon, I couldn't let another second go by without all of you parents of little ones out there knowing about this amazing little invention: a 3" thick portable crib mattress for $25 bucks. Seriously. It will change your life!

Catch Up

2011-08-04T12:24:00.001-04:00

Well hello, blogland! I've been a tad MIA lately and honestly, I have no good excuse for it. I guess I can pull the ol' "it's summer and we're busy enjoying our family time together" excuse, and I'm sure that's true, at least somewhat. In all honesty, I just haven't had an interest in blogging lately. I have no idea where my time goes each day, but I'm fairly certain it isn't spent doing anything overly constructive. Instead, it's filled with stuff like laundry, cooking, cleaning, running errands and the like. You know, typical mom stuff.

So for no other reason than pure laziness, here's a list of stuff to share with my loyal blog readers (I'm sure there's one or two of ya still out there):

• Beach vacay!!! We'll be enjoying a long weekend in Hilton Head, SC for our summer family vacation. The best part? We're planning to meet up with a super sweet family, the DiCarlos! They left their west coast home to get their vacay on over here on the east coast, and I couldn't be more ecstatic to get to see them!! Yay!

• My MacBook hard drive died. Again. I just replaced it 2 months ago when Chase dropped my MacBook onto the floor and killed the last one. For some reason, I must've got a bad drive because it failed after only 2 months. Sucky!! So I got a new one and installed it, along with a RAM upgrade, but my computer wouldn't recognize the hard drive. What the heck?! So I took it to the Apple Store. They said 5-7 days and about $300 for the repair. I got a second opinion at another authorized Apple retailer and was told they'd have it ready the next day, for $60. Imagine which option I chose. I haven't had a chance to check it out yet since I just got it back about an hour ago, but I know it works and I'm so happy to have it back! Yay!!

• Chase is doing AWESOME. He is finally starting to pick up on his speech a bit. I've been working hard on using signs with him and I do think it's helped his speech. He can sign please, thank you, more, milk, cookie and bye. I'm so proud of him!!! But it's important to note that he will only speak or sign IF/WHEN HE FEELS LIKE IT. This boy is STUBBORN!!! It's so frustrating dealing with his temper just by asking him to say "please" before giving him his paci or milk or whatever. I can't express how very angry/upset/frustrated this kid gets when asking him to communicate with us. Someone once told me his speech is like the only thing he really has any control over, and that's why he's so crazy about it. I'd be curious to hear if other heart kiddos have a crazy-mean temper, or if we're the only lucky ones... ;)

• I've applied for a part-time job! I'm kind of excited about the opportunity but haven't heard anything concrete yet. I love the idea of working with people and helping people... especially ADULT people who don't whine or complain as often as my kids. Haha! I'll keep y'all posted as I find out more! :)

• LO is four. FOUR, people. I can't believe it. I watched some videos of her last night from about a year or so ago, and it's ridiculous how much she's changed! I miss my baby girl! But she's turning into quite a smart little preschooler. She's started reading over the past few months and has really taken off! I'm so proud of her!

• Chase will be TWO in just over 2 months. What an amazing blessing and miracle he is!! Not a day (or hour!) goes by that I don't stop to think how blessed we are and to think of those families whose heart heroes have gone home to Heaven. This is such a difficult journey but I am still so blessed and thankful that God chose US to be Chase's parents. What an unbelievable honor!!!

• I am NOT doing well with my weight loss efforts. Case in point? A statement from my daughter this morning: "Mommy, your tummy's getting BIG! Like Aunt D's tummy." Please note her Aunt D is currently 8 months pregnant. Thanks, LO. Guess I need to step up my weight loss regimen...

• I haven't been a very good blog reader/commenter lately. So sorry about that! I promise I've at least been doing some serious lurking so I can stay updated on everyone. So sorry! I'll try to do better!

• I love Big Brother. Anyone else!? Dumbest move ever? Brenden taking Rachel off the block with the POV last night. Duh!!

Posted from my beloved iPhone

Happy 21 Months!

2011-07-26T21:48:00.000-04:00

Happy 21 Months to my sweet little miracle boy!

You're getting so big and so full of personality! I love every second I'm blessed to spend with you!

LO's 4th Birthday Party -- 2 of 2

2011-07-25T23:10:00.000-04:00

Well, a certain little girl's weekend o' birthday fun has finally drawn to a close, much to her worn out mommy's delight. Honestly, it's been a lot of fun! But I'm happy to say now that I have a 4-year-old daughter, and her birthday weekend was full of fun and memorable experiences for us all.

Tonight was her much-anticipated Chuck E. Cheese's party. While it was nice to not have to worry about the food, set up, clean up or entertainment, I was somewhat annoyed at how the party was handled. Imagine them telling your party over the loudspeaker to stop playing and return to the party area, only for all of you to stand around for 15 minutes while the party next to yours goes through their spiel, at which point you ask your party coordinator about this and she confirms for you that the call was only for "their" party and not yours, even though there was no indication as such. No biggie. Everybody go back to playing. Ten minutes later, another announcement for the party guests to return to the party area. Your hot food is delivered and you get your kids and the adults situated with their dinner, only to have the party team show up, the "live" Chuck E. Cheese guy show up, followed by clapping, getting out of your seat to dance, then drumming on the table, then singing another song, then shouting a "Happy Birthday" game, then more clapping, dancing and singing. Notice: not any eating. Rather, watching all of your hot food get cold while your children are confused about whether they should be eating, playing, singing, clapping or dancing. Add to that just seconds after this phase of the party was over and folks could actually get back to the eating of their cold pizza and wings that the party coordinator brings your daughter's birthday cupcake to her (she has yet to take a bite of her dinner), lights the candle and places it in front of her, while instructing the party guests to sing yet again to the birthday girl. WHEW! It was about 20 minutes of pure madness and uncontrollable mayhem! ((Note to self: THIS is the very reason every single birthday party for both of my kids has ALWAYS been at HOME until now.))

After the craziness was over, we were left to enjoy our evening at our own pace, which was much appreciated. Everyone was finally able to eat their dinner, enjoy a birthday cupcake and hang out. The kids got to play, then LO was able to open her gifts, then they all went back to playing some more. With the exception of those 20 minutes of "hurry up and follow the recorded music that allows us to move parties in and out of here in less than 20 minutes during peak party hours," I think it was a wonderful time and the most important part was that LO had a blast!!!

Here are some pics of my 4-year-old and her big party!

Chase. Hanging out. Already with a messy shirt not even 10 minutes after we arrived. No idea how he managed that.

Giving Chuck E. Cheese a hug because she was instructed to.

Chase. Glaring me down. Because he can.

Smiling with Chuck E. Cheese. Sort of a fake grin plastered to her face, but I'll take it!

A boy and his cupcake. He did some damage on that thing and the accompanying chocolate ice cream!

Daddy told the birthday girl to shove her face into her cupcake. And, being the well-behaved, obedient child that we've raised, she did.

She's so silly!

Daddy told her to do it again. And again, she listened.

He tore through the cupcake and is working over that chocolate ice cream like you wouldn't believe!

One of the funniest 30 seconds I've ever witnessed in my life. LO and her friend in a ticket blaster, desperately trying to catch tickets and stuff them down their shirts. They scored big time at the ticket counter when all was said and done.

Opening presents! A new kid-friendly keyboard and mouse for her, just like the ones at the library she loves so much. Yay!

A lady bug! She loves it!

A cowgirl hat? No way!!

Cheesiest. Grin. Ever.

Showing off her Toy Story puzzle book to Chase!

As she was opening her gifts, another one of their "live shows" started and she was enamored. It was tough getting her to stay focused on the task at hand!

She loves her new Biscuit book! I picked up one of these early reader books at Barnes & Noble a month or two ago, and she loved it so much that I picked up a collection of 10 Biscuit books in one hardback book. She was so excited and she read one of the stories tonight before bedtime.

Super Why board game! Can't wait to play this with her!

We've been talking about states and maps so I thought it'd be fun to teach her all of the states and their capitals. Should be fun! :)

New clothes! I'm sure she's way more excited than this face lets on...

To top off a perfectly fun evening celebrating our precious little girl, God decided to throw one of the biggest rainbows up in the sky as we were leaving. What a blessing! It was so beautiful and this pic doesn't begin to do it justice. Too cool!!

What a super wonderful weekend it's been! I so love my girl and am so grateful for the 4 years we've had her in our lives and in our hearts. She is an amazing little girl and I cannot tell you how blessed I am to be her mommy!!!

Happy 4th Birthday, LO! I love you bunches!!!

Happy 4th Birthday, LO!

2011-07-25T14:02:00.000-04:00

My little birthday girl's day was off to a great start this morning with her birthday pancakes! She chose banana pancakes (one of mommy's faves!) and enjoyed mommy & daddy's rendition of "Happy Birthday!"

She's napping now, as is her brother, and in just a few hours we'll be heading to Chuck E. Cheese's for her second 4th birthday party! Woot!

Here's her "4" birthday pancake, served on our family birthday plate with a side of fresh strawberries -- one of her favorites!

Is it just me, or does she totally look older today than she did on Saturday at her firetruck party? Wow, my girl is growing up!!!

Making another birthday wish!

LO's 4th Birthday Party -- 1 of 2

2011-07-23T21:37:00.000-04:00

Today we celebrated LO's 4th birthday with a fun firetruck-themed party at the house. It was so much fun to see her (and Chase) play with their cousins and families they don't typically get to see very often. Both of the kids had a blast, and I loved the fact that it was MUCH more laid back than my typical parties for the kids (meaning: I didn't have to do as much work!).

She has another birthday party on Monday (her actual birth date) at ((gulp)) Chuck E. Cheese's. She'd been asking to have a party there and I finally gave in this year. I'm actually looking forward to it--at least the parts that I don't have to worry about (decorations, food, entertainment, clean-up, etc.)! It should be a lot of fun!

I'm still not sure I believe this little baby girl of mine is turning 4 years old. But I sure hope the 4s are a MUCH-NEEDED improvement from the 3s. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that her behavior and attitude somehow find a way to get at least a tiny bit better!

Here are some pictures from our day of celebrating. Enjoy! :)

The cake. Mommy made it. My first attempt at one of those "character/shaped" pans. Not too bad but BOY did those red stars take some time! LO oversaw the entire process from about 2 inches away and provided excellent directions (and feedback) for me... :)

The birthday girl! You can't see her birthday shirt very well, but it has a firetruck on it, a number 4 on the pocket, and says "Fire Chief" in a funky, girly font under the truck. My plan is that one day I'll make a quilt for each of my kids from their birthday shirts.

Hilarious! One of LO's cousins was spinning her around and around in the living room. I'm not sure, but I think she was enjoying it at least a tiny, little bit...

It's not a party until Chase has a meltdown of some kind of proportions. This one wasn't epic, but definitely enough to command the attention of everyone in the room.

I'm not sure Chase is a fan of those party favors LO is blowing into his face.

Money! Money! Money! Thanks, Gram & Pap! :)

Believe it or not, one of LO's cousins is hiding under all that tissue paper!

She's very focused during the gift opening. It's serious business to a 4-year-old!

Wait--what's this? Chase is happy again! Ah yes, my sweet bipolar little boy. Good thing Gramma & PaPa gave LO a singing Toy Story birthday card to keep Chase happy and entertained!

He really likes that card!

My little goofball. MAN I love this kid!

My beautiful little fire chief... very pleased with her new fire station play set!

Singing and birthday cake time! Love her smile in this one. For someone who loves the spotlight, she still gets a tiny bit embarrassed with the focused attention almost 20 people!

Make a wish, sweet girl!!!

Just to be clear: hubs and I have taught LO how to eat. This fact is evidenced by the photo below. When it comes to cake and other baked goods/sweets, for the times when we do actually use a fork (rather than our fists), we do in fact attempt to fill every empty space in our mouth with as much cake as possible in one fell swoop. That's our girl! Notice Chase is watching intently and taking pointers of his own.

Super firefighter girl to the rescue!!!

We're looking forward to party 2 of 2 on Monday night! Will post pics of that one in another blog post next week! Thanks for tuning in! :)

Healthy Bites: Do-It-Yourself Microwave Popcorn

2011-07-18T06:00:00.000-04:00

Do you read Lisa Leake's blog, 100DaysofRealFood.com? If you don't, you have no idea what you're missing! Her blog is full of healthy, whole food recipes and snacks, and let me tell you -- they are GOOD! Whole-wheat banana pancakes, whole-wheat waffles, whole-wheat biscuits... the list goes on and on! ((I just noticed my insane carb addiction -- ha!))

Recently Lisa posted a little popcorn trick that I was quite skeptical of, but I finally decided to give it a try and boy am I glad I did! It's super simple, so economical and absolutely delicious!

I've always been one to purchase microwave popcorn, and always look for the "light butter" kind because I'm just not a fan of greasy popcorn. I never put that melted butter junk on my popcorn at the movies, either. In fact, I typically smuggle in a small Ziploc of microwave popcorn from home -- Shhhhh! Don't tell!). Imagine my surprise when I learned how simple it is to make it yourself!

Here are the instructions, taken directly from 100DaysofRealFood.com!

Ingredients

¼ cup popcorn kernels, preferably organic
Brown paper lunch bag
Optional: Melted butter, oil, and/or salt

Directions

Pour the kernels into the brown paper bag.
Tightly fold over the top three or four times. No tape or staples are necessary.
Put it in the microwave and start it on high for 3 minutes and 30 seconds.
Listen for the popping to slow down to 3 or 4 seconds apart at which point you will take it out of the microwave. This usually happens for me around the 3 minute and 15 second mark.
Pour popcorn into a bowl and drizzle with melted butter or spritz with olive oil and then sprinkle with salt. If you don’t use oil or butter the salt won’t stick.

Yield: Approximately 3 – 4 servings

Seriously?! How simple is that! My goodness this stuff is tasty! And check it out! Only 100 calories for about 5 cups of freshly popped popcorn! I sprayed a light spritz of canola oil (didn't have a sprayer for my olive oil) and topped with a pinch of sea salt. Seriously, like a pinch. That was all it needed and it was fantastic!

The Dentist!

2011-07-15T06:00:00.003-04:00

I feel kind of vulnerable exposing such a shocking truth here on my blog... but I just took my almost-4-year-old daughter to the dentist... for the very first time.

((insert gasp of shock n' awe here))

I know, I know. Is it normal to wait until almost 4 before taking a child to the dentist for the first time? Probably not. We had wanted to do it sooner, but I guess it's safe to say the past 2 years have been a bit chaotic for us. So we finally added her to our dental plan back in January, and it's taken me 7 months to get my act together!

I'm happy to report Little Miss didn't have a single cavity (yay!) and got a glowing review from her hygienist and the dentist himself, Dr. M. I was very pleased to hear that, but I think more than anything, I was absolutely SHOCKED at how amazing she did!

I scheduled her cleaning at the same time as mine, thinking I'd go first and let her watch and see that it doesn't hurt, it's fun, etc... She sure showed me because she wanted to go FIRST! Wow! I figured even with her going first, she'd probably get uncomfortable during the process and I'd have to switch places to let her calm down and see that it's possible to get through it. But no! She was an amazing little trooper and I couldn't have been more proud! I was worried for nothing! In fact, I even had a second dentist appointment lined up for the following week at a pediatric dentist office with all the fun, wacky, craziness thinking she'd do better in a kid-friendly environment. Oh, ye mommy of little faith!

Here are a few shots of my big girl! I still can't believe she'll be 4 in less than 2 weeks! ACK!!!

Healthy Bites: Tomato & Roasted Red Pepper Soup

2011-07-14T06:00:00.000-04:00

I was NOT expecting to love today's Healthy Bites meal idea as much as I did. If you're a fan of the Roasted Tomato & Basil Bisque at Mimi's Cafe, you'll LOVE this delicious Organic Tomato & Roasted Red Pepper soup from Trader Joe's! It has a tiny little bite to it, and I topped mine with some freshly ground pepper for even more heat. It. Was. Delish!

I enjoyed 1/2 cup of white grapes and a large bottle of water along with my soup. Check out this healthy breakdown!

And just for comparison purposes, check out the stats on the aforementioned Roasted Tomato & Basil Bisque from Mimi's Cafe! The same serving size has a whopping 258 calories and 20 grams of fat!!

Serving Size	8 fl oz
Calories	258
Calories From Fat	182
Total Fat (g)	20
Saturated Fat (g)	10
Cholesterol (mg)	57
Sodium (mg)	902
Carbohydrates (g)	14
Dietary Fiber (g)	1
Sugars (g)	13
Protein (g)	2

Hello?

2011-07-13T10:21:00.000-04:00

Hey, folks! My name is ((mom2lo)) and I've been neglecting my blog.

Okay, now that I've admitted it, the next step is fixing it, right? Right. Things have been a bit busy this summer and I just haven't been able to make the time to blog. Here are a few of the things we've been up to (and/or have coming up soon)...

I've revolutionized (?) my diet. I completely eliminated soda about a month ago and it's been great. Of course I expected to see the pounds just melt away, but obviously that hasn't happened. I've also started making healthier food choices for myself and my family. This has been awesome! The kids are adjusting rather nicely, which is a blessing. I've put myself on an 1,100 calorie "diet" per day, and have had almost NO PROBLEM staying at or below that number. I never knew it would be possible! I'm eating whole foods (fruits and veggies for snacks and with almost every meal), lots of whole grains and drinking water almost exclusively. I used to drink MAYBE 8 oz. of water per day. Now I'm drinking about a gallon a day or more. Crazy! I've also started an organic body cleanse just to rid my body of build up toxins from eating junk foods for 30-something years. I'm hopeful after 14 days, I'll see a big difference and will feel awesome!
I donated blood yesterday at hubs' office. It was awesome! It'd been far too long since I've donated (ashamed to admit since before I was pregnant with LO!) and I was so glad to get in there and get it done! I'm hoping to try to donate more regularly (every 8 weeks) since I'm O-, which is very much in demand these days. It feels so good to give back!
LO's 4th birthday is a week from Monday. This year I'm doing two parties for her: one at home with family and one at ((gulp)) Chuck E. Cheese's. We finally gave in. This will be her first birthday party NOT at home and the first time I won't have control over every single detail. I'm not too nervous about it. I mean, really, as long as there are games and cake, the kid will be fine. I know she'll love it! My biggest challenge is the fact that she's asked for a Firetruck cake. Ya. So that ought to be ~~challenging~~ ~~time-consuming~~ fun. Anybody got any tips, ideas or suggestions? I'm all ears!
Chase is doing super awesome! He's getting so big and independent -- and tall, too! He's about up to LO's neck! Crazy. He loves to play outside, anything involving water and finding quiet time for himself (when his sister isn't growling, yes growling in his face. We have a trip to Charleston next week for a follow-up with his ENT. They'll recheck his hearing and make sure there's no fluid in his ears. I'm hoping that everything looks great! He also has an outpatient procedure scheduled while we're there. Please keep him in your prayers! I'm sure he's gonna do great! :)
I'm also deep into the planning of the Palmetto Hearts Pediatric Cardiology Reunion in Charleston on September 17th. Invitations have been created, ordered and shipped. Now I'll have the fun of mailing 300 invitations... Haha! I'm excited about the event. I know all of the heart families from across South Carolina look forward to this event every year, and I'm honored to be the one planning all the details and fun! It's exciting and awesome but sure takes up a lot of my time! I still try to fit in fun trips for the kids and outings to the pool each week. Otherwise, I'd be stuck behind this here MacBook and on my iPhone 24/7 making all the arrangements!

Guess there's not much else to report. We're just enjoying our summer. I'm trying to disconnect myself from the virtual world a bit because it's just not healthy and it's not the message I want to send to my kids. I don't want them growing up thinking life revolves around the Internet. I want to get out there and enjoy it with them! So please don't be offended if I'm not posting as much on here or if you don't see me active on Facebook or if I'm not commenting on blogs. I just want to enjoy my REAL family and not waste time on virtual things! :)

Here are a few pics of my little water boy from the other day. Hope you all are enjoying your summer with your families!

Healthy Bites: Chicken Salad Sandwich

2011-07-11T06:00:00.004-04:00

Today's Healthy Bites post can be used for lunch or dinner -- whatever your fancy! I really love this meal and it has been my go-to lunch for several days over the past week. Check it out!

1 slice Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat Bread

Six Bread & Butter Pickle Chips, diced

1/4 cup Light Mayonnaise

1 can Chicken Breast

This is my super simple chicken salad recipe. Drain the canned chicken, add the diced pickles, mayonnaise and some pepper and VOILA! It's done! And this makes enough for at least 5 half-sandwiches. I serve it on Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat bread (thanks for the recommendation, 100daysofrealfood.com) so I only make 1/2 sandwich for a meal... those whole grains keep you full! I eat this sandwich with a side of fresh fruit or vegetables and a big ol' glass of water.

It's divine!!

Now, are you ready for the best part? Check it out!!!

Um, only 286 calories? I just burned that plus 15 more by walking on a treadmill for 45 minutes. Sweet! And notice we're looking at less than 5g of fat and over 16g protein!

Good stuff!

Healthy Bites: Kashi Go Lean Crunch

2011-07-08T13:08:00.002-04:00

I'm embarking on a new lifestyle change. I am trying to eat healthier and get more active. From my excessive research, I've found these are the two ingredients in losing weight (YAY!) and being healthy (not taking "magic pills" or using an "easy button" -- apparently neither exist).

One of my biggest challenges has been finding healthy meals that are easy and delicious, using ingredients I tend to keep on hand at home. I figured as I find healthy meals and snacks, I will share them with you in case you're looking for new, fresh ideas for your own diet (and I don't mean "diet" like the "four-letter word" kind -- more like the "what you ingest every day" kind of diet). I think I'll call 'em "Healthy Bites."

So without further ado, I will introduce you to my yummy breakfast from this morning:

1/2 cup Kashi Go Lean Crunch Cereal

1/2 Diced Banana (this works well for me since Chase eats the other half!)

1/2 cup 1% Milk

This was a super easy, quick and delicious breakfast! It was surprisingly filling and held me over perfectly until my late morning snack: 1/2 sliced apple -- the kids ate the other half.

Check out this breakfast's stats:

Did you see that? Only 180 calories, less than 3g of fat and almost 10g protein! Now that's impressive!

I hope you found this healthy breakfast idea helpful! I'll be posting breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack ideas as I come across them and hope you will find a way to incorporate these fresh, healthy ideas into your day!

Holiday Pics

2011-07-05T10:50:00.000-04:00

I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable 4th of July weekend! We had a great time with family! Here's a recap in photos...

Fun in the pool!

My beautiful girl, enjoying some holiday boating!

She loves the lake!

Pretty girl!

Smiley face!

A beautiful sunset after a wonderful day with family!

This handsome fella enjoyed the lake, too... as long as Daddy held him and kept him safe!

Fireworks at church last night. The kids loved the glow sticks!

Fireworks!!

Ooooooh!

Ahhhhhhh!

What our little man did during the fireworks... fell asleep half-way through the show!
Granted it was 2 hours past his bedtime. :)

Happy 20 Months!

2011-06-27T16:40:00.000-04:00

Somebody just turned 20 months old. Any idea who?

That's right! It's this guy!!

Happy 20 Months to my super sweet little man! I can't believe you'll be TWO YEARS OLD in only four short months! You are such a fun boy and bring so much joy and laughter to your daddy and I. You are walking perfectly, except for the occasional parking lot fall (although I think that's because you have some secret agenda to hold onto that boo-boo on your right knee and prevent it from ever healing). You are learning more and more each day and continue to surprise us at what you know. You love quietly flipping through books when your sister is otherwise occupied or away from home. Your jabbering is becoming quite hilarious these days! I know you're so close and will start busting out complete sentences before we know it! See what I mean?

We're still working on expanding your palate to enjoy foods other than bananas, breads and cheddar cheese, and it's been a bit of a challenge! Mommy's trying to eliminate processed foods from our diet but you just haven't found a love for any fruit other than bananas, and let's not even mention vegetables! I hope this a phase you'll grow out of, although I thought that same thing when your sister would only eat PB&Js when she was younger (and unfortunately that's still her favorite, although she's broadened her tastes and will try new things... sometimes).

Your temper started out being pretty cute and somewhat comical, but now I'm not so sure. I don't understand why you get so very upset when mommy or daddy tell you "no," and I definitely don't think it's necessary to find the nearest surface (coffee table, couch, wall, oven door, refrigerator door, dishwasher, cabinet, sliding glass door, dresser, entertainment center, ottoman, etc.) to pound with your hands and your head. I gotta think that's a pretty painful way to react to being told not to throw your snack on the floor... Anyway, I certainly don't blame you for your little quirks and think after all you've been through, you're welcome to throw a tantrum or two every now and then (did you catch that? one or two... every now and then... not every day!). :)

Sweet Chasey-poo, I love you more than I can express and I'm so grateful that God has blessed us with 20 amazing months with you, to get to know you and love you more and more with each passing day. I can't fathom why God chooses to take some sweet ones home while giving us the incredible fortune of having you by our side. That is one question I'll be sure to ask God when I get to Heaven. All I know is to be grateful. To shower you with love and affection. To care for you the very best way we know how. And to enjoy each and every second with you because we know we're not promised tomorrow.

Happy 20 months, sweet boy! I love you bunches!!!

Burn Notice - Oh, yeaaah . . .

2011-06-22T09:55:00.002-04:00

If you're not busy tomorrow night, you need to catch the season premier of Burn Notice on USA.

Let me give you one good reason why. Meet Jeffrey Donovan, who plays the lead character Michael Westen:

Okay, so that should totally be reason enough to tune in, right? Riiiiight... But because I'm a team player and like to keep all my blog readers happy, here's another pic, this time including Fiona, Michael's on-again, off-again girlfriend:

Finally, here's a little clip of Michael Westen in action. Enjoy!

This Thursday at 9pm on USA. Watch it!

How's This for a Post?

2011-06-20T23:29:00.001-04:00

So here's my post for today:

Chase bumped my laptop onto the garage floor this morning, thus rendering my hard drive a worthless chunk of metal and what-not. My new hard drive is being overnighted and shall be installed moments after its arrival by yours truly (hard drive replacement #2 for my beloved 4 year old MacBook).

Dumb, idiotic shoulda-known-better lessons for the day: Don't wait a month in between Time Machine backups, and don't leave your MacBook on a kid's chair that sits less than a foot from the ground with a 20-month-old within its reach and not think that (A) he'll knock it over because he's a boy and that's what he does or (B) it won't destroy the hard drive falling such a short distance onto a concrete floor.

That is all.

Posted from my iPhone (obviously)

Monkey Fun!

2011-06-20T06:00:00.002-04:00

Last week, I took the kids to Barnes & Noble to play with the Thomas train table and look for some new books. They always love the "freedom" they get when I allow them to wreak havoc in the Children's Area (haha! So maybe I still keep a pretty good eye on them so they don't turn into "those kids" you see whose parents actually let them run wild). While they were playing, I happened to notice this adorable little monkey bag by Skip*Hop:

I couldn't pass it up! Granted, we already have this super-cute monkey backpack from Pottery Barn Kids, which I totally love (imagine Chase's name on it, not James')...

...but it doesn't have a single pocket, and I'm big on pockets when it comes to a diaper bag. The Skip*Hop bag has a huge front zipper pocket AND a mesh cup holder on the side. And the little banana zipper pulls? Totally took the cute factor over the top! I'm just so glad to FINALLY (after almost 4 years!) be devoid of a traditional diaper bag in lieu of this cutesie little backpack. Oh, and I put it on Chase and made him carry it for a few seconds (it was kind of heavy!) and it was the Cutest. Thing. Ever.

I just love that boy!

Mishap of Epic Proportions

2011-06-17T06:00:00.002-04:00

Tuesday was a VERY big day for me. For one thing, it was my very first time visiting this wonderful establishment:

I was so excited to visit TJ's for the first time! I have to say the store was smaller than I had expected it to be, but it was lined with a TON of goodies! There were so many healthy, organic, preservative-free and whole foods available in this place and the prices were way better than I had expected. I only picked up a few items on my first go 'round, now knowing that it'll take me months to try all of the different TJ's products. I can say that I am in LOVE with their organic strawberry preserves, organic corn chips and organic tomatillo & roasted yellow chili salsa. :)

So the other thing that happened that made Tuesday a very big day for me was my Mishap of Epic Proportions. I was standing in the parking lot, trying to get Chase out of his car seat while LO was milling about when I attempted to put my iPhone in my back pocket. It inadvertently got away from me and went flying towards the pavement. I wasn't too concerned because, honestly, I've dropped the thing a zillion times. I just always take a deep breath and say a little prayer before picking it up. I was beyond mortified to see what I saw when I picked it up:

Heavens to Betsy! It was shattered in the corner and had two long cracks running across the screen. I didn't have time to deal with it at the moment; I just shoved it in my pocket and moved on with my TJ's shopping excursion. Once we were inside, I called the at&t store, which happened to be located right across the street. I took another deep breath, said another quick prayer and told the guy what happened.

He told me it would be $199 to replace it.

((insert sobbing here))

I was beside myself! Especially considering it had only been 10 months since my previous iPhone loss (which ended in a pure victory for me!). I couldn't believe it. Hubs wasn't gonna be too happy with me. I called him at work and explained what happened. Surprisingly, he took it very well! Yay!

So Wednesday morning, the kids and I loaded up and headed to the mall to visit our local Apple Store to see if maybe they would feel differently than at&t and perhaps let me get away with something (anything!) less than $199. A very nice young lady approached me and confirmed I had the 10:10 am appointment, and I proceeded to tell her about the mishap. She was sympathetic and most likely saw the tears welling up in my eyes as I told the story. She confirmed I had all my data backed up (which, of course, I did!) and went ahead and replaced my phone. She said they typically charge $199 (a NEW one actually runs over $500, so the $199 is actually a discount, although it certainly doesn't feel like it), but she was going to replace it for free.

((gasp!))

What a blessing!

A friend of mine mentioned the screen cracked on her husband's iPhone and he was given a replacement for free, but I certainly didn't believe I'd have that kind of luck! But boy was I surprised! And thankful! And grateful! And relieved!

So within hours from the Mishap of Epic Proportions, I had gone to my trusty friend, Amazon, and ordered a new case for my iPhone. It was delivered 24 hours later. Here's what's interesting to me. The kids have an iPod Touch. Before I gave it to them, I bought an Otterbox Defender case for it because, really, you can't trust young kids to take care of expensive electronics, and this mack-daddy case was sure to keep it safe from their errant drops, throws and spills.

See? It's a big ol' (filthy) case:

Mommy has learned a new lesson over the past 48 hours. Mommy can't be trusted to take care of expensive electronics, either. So that new case I ordered from Amazon for my iPhone 4?

An Otterbox Defender:

Now my sweet iPhone 4 is tucked away safely and securely within the confines of this massive yet aesthetic case.

Oh, and I should mention... that friend of mine whose husband's iPhone was replaced? Well, she has an iPhone, too. And she told me she dropped it in a parking lot, then watched TWO cars run it over. The case was banged up, but the phone? Pristine! Guess what case she had on it?

An Otterbox Defender!

So here's hoping I can make it more than 10 months before inadvertently ruining yet another iPhone!

Ahhh, Workout!

2011-06-16T06:00:00.003-04:00

I am happy to report that yesterday, I survived my very first 20-minute workout with the one and only celebrity trainer, Jillian Michaels...

...via my new iFit card!

So we have this wonderfully amazing brand new treadmill that has been collecting dust in our bedroom for months now. It's literally been used 2 or 3 times. Awful, right? So I ordered one of these nifty little iFit cards that goes into our treadmill and has Jillian Michaels performing the role of Personal Trainer for your workout. The card controls the incline and speed on the treadmill, and Jillian walks you through the program, including little quips of encouragement and support.

My first workout was 20 minutes long. It was a hard 20 minutes! The speed never went past a measly 3.4 mph, but GOOD LAWD she upped the incline to 7%! Now, if you're like me, if WHEN you use your treadmill, you use it for--get this--walking! In other words, I get on it, turn it on, and start walking. I'll increase the speed in slow increments until I'm ready to pass out, but girlfriend don't never touch that incline button! I mean, really. I just want to walk. I don't want to hike Mt. Everest. So why bother with the incline when you can get a healthy walk in on level ground instead?

But apparently our friend Jillian is a BIG FAN of the incline. I am NOT looking forward to my next workout, but I figure I can do just about anything for 20-30 minutes. And it's not killing me (though it may seem like it at the time); it's actually making me stronger and (hopefully) leaner in the process.

Each iFit card contains 24 workouts that are increasingly difficult to keep your body challenged. I think the goal is to complete a workout 3x per week for 8 weeks. To be honest, I'm scared of trying workout #2. But at the same time, I'm not blind. I see that my middle section, thighs (and can assume butt) have all put on some serious poundage over the past 6 months. I notice my clothes aren't fitting the way they used to. I sense that my energy level is in the toilet. I've got to get in control of two things: (1) Food and (2) Exercise. A good friend of mine shared a wise, motivational message he received from a dear friend of his: if you can't muster up the drive and determination to do it for yourself (meaning to work out and be healthy), then DO IT FOR YOUR FAMILY. That makes perfect sense to me, and I'm gonna give it my very best! And now, I have all of you to keep me accountable! :)

Welcome . . . Back??

2011-06-15T16:04:00.000-04:00

So I haven't been blogging much lately. Have you noticed? I can't really pinpoint an exact reason why. I think in a way I felt like technology was taking over my life and I had little to no say in the matter. I was drawn to tweet the latest cute pic of Chase, check in on Facebook to see what my friends and family are up to (since most of don't have real-time relationships anymore) and had a tiny, nagging feeling that I HAD to blog whether I felt like it or not. So I've taken a little technology break and have told my Facebook page, my Twitter account, and this here blog WHO IS IN CHARGE (if you aren't following me, it's me. I'm in charge. Of my technologies. Got it?). Anywho, I've decided I don't hate blogging and in fact I've actually missed it a bit. Everyone knows good blogs are updated daily, so I'm gonna try to get back in the habit. Besides, this all started out with me sharing about a dining experience gone terribly, horribly wrong, and really, if you guys have stuck with me with my rambling commentary on raw meat, then surely you're still interested in what is going on in my world these days! ;)

So let's see... Here are a few of the latest updates from our little world...

Chase is doing wonderfully following his ear tube surgery last week. He's much more attentive, seems very interested in watching our mouths when we speak, and has picked up new words like "on" and "in" and "bye" -- making me one very happy and proud mama! He's so very smart and continues to amaze me every day. I am so grateful to have him in my life and am beyond blessed that he's doing so wonderfully health-wise. God is so very good!

I am very excited to share that I have recently taken on a volunteer position with Palmetto Hearts, a non-profit organization serving South Carolina families affected by Congenital Heart Defects. I have taken on the role of Director of Community Programs, and am so excited about meeting other heart families from across the state! My biggest task is planning our annual Pediatric Cardiology Reunion in Charleston, SC on September 17th. This is where our heart families from across the state get together along with the surgeons, doctors, nurses and other staff from the Pediatric Cardiology department at MUSC Children's Hospital for an evening of fun, games, food and fellowship with each other. I'm so excited to be responsible for putting this event together -- from start to finish -- and am hoping for a VERY successful event! Because of the additional time and attention required to serve in this role, I regrettably had to resign from serving alongside several wonderful heart mamas through Sisters by Heart. They are amazing and are continuing to make a positive impact in the heart community. Please continue to lend them your support!

LO will be FOUR next month. FOUR, people! I am amazed (she was 10 months old when I started this blog, and that seems like just yesterday)! Sheesh. I am also VERY hopeful that we will leave the Tyrannical Three's in the dust and that FOUR will be the start of new and improved behavior. Seriously. I cannot tell you how awful the past several months have been when it comes to disciplining her and attempting to get her to listen and behave. It's been an uphill battle and we've been losing them week after week. Good thing is, we haven't lost the war! I know as a parent it can be very difficult to handle the daily struggles of bad behavior, enforce discipline all while trying to instill quality character traits like honesty and compassion. I know I need to do better about being patient with her and always remember she's not even 4 years old yet, and not to get angry or frustrated with her. But it's hard. I really enjoyed the "Have a New Kid by Friday" method I tried a few months ago, but WOW was it ever difficult to stick to! It was a parenting style radically different than my own, but I think it's worth revisiting. I've also pulled out "The New Strong-Willed Child" by James Dobson and am hoping to glean some wisdom from this best-seller as well.

There are lots of other things going on, but I think I'll leave it at this for now. Stay tuned for more tomorrow!

Also, thanks for your patience with me and for not abandoning me considering my lack of recent blogging. I'm doing this because I want to (not because I feel like I have to) and because I truly value the input and support I receive from you through your comments.

All Good

2011-06-10T11:33:00.000-04:00

Just a quick update to say that Chase did amazingly well for his appointments and procedure at MUSC this week. He had the tubes put in first case on Wednesday (started at 7:30 AM) and we were discharged by 9 AM. Coming out of the anesthesia was pretty hard on him this time around. All of his other procedures (i.e., two heart surgeries and two heart catheterizations) required deeper anesthesia (obviously) so he was kept "under" and comfortable for several hours afterwards. This time it was different. It was more important to be sure he was stable and breathing well than to keep him comfortable (unfortunately). So this meant that when we were called back to see him in recovery, his anesthesiologist (whom we LOVE dearly) was trying his best to comfort Chase, to no avail. Mommy took over, cuddled up with him and tried to get him some juice. He still was NOT happy or comfortable. They ended up giving him some morphine for the pain, but didn't want to put him out with anything stronger than that if they could help it. I was having a hard time getting him to relax and BOY is that kid strong! He was arching his back and flailing in my arms -- it was all I could do to keep him from falling off my lap! But luckily we were able to get him to relax and calm down, without having to give him anything stronger than morphine and some Tylenol.

We were on our way home after relaxing at the hotel for about an hour or so, and had an uneventful trip home. I've had the joy of putting drops in his ears 2x/day for 3 days following his procedure, and (not surprisingly) he's been incredibly awesome with allowing me to put the drops in and hold him on each side for 5 minutes afterwards. I flipped out a bit yesterday morning when he woke up because he had a lot of dried blood outside his right ear. Then I put him in his chair while I got breakfast ready, and noticed him digging in his right ear with his finger, which was then covered with fresh blood. ACK! It kept bleeding slightly for about an hour, even with cotton balls in his ear. I spoke with MUSC and they assured me it was normal to see some bleeding for up to 2 days following the procedure, so that helped me relax a bit. Plus I haven't seen any other problems since yesterday morning and today they both look great!

Of course he's been back to his happy, adorable little self since a few hours after the procedure. It didn't take him long to bounce back and hubs and I feel like we've already seen some improvement. He seems more interested in conversations and is starting to improve some of his sounds. I hope it continues and we see more and more improvements in the coming weeks/months.

Thanks to those of you who lifted us up in prayer for Chase's procedure and our travel to/from MUSC. We appreciate the love and support that the blogging community provides to us throughout our journey.

My sweet little loves...

Pictured above: Chase, Monkey, Beary, LO and Corrina Shorrina

A Scheduled Visit and Procedure at MUSC

2011-06-06T15:00:00.000-04:00

SOOOOO... if you think about us, say a little prayer for Chase this week. We'll be heading to MUSC for Chase's ENT appointment with Dr. H (the same doc who did his two bronchoscopies post-Norwood, whom we really like) for a second opinion about having tubes put in. If she agrees tubes are needed, the procedure is already on the schedule for this week.

I asked Chase how he felt about another surgery at the hospital...

Not a fan. Who could blame him?

Here's the background story:

Chase started Speech Therapy about 2 months ago. About a month or so in, his ST asked if Chase had ever been tested for fluid in his middle ear. I thought, um, the pediatrician looks in his ears at each of his well visits, so I guess so?? But she said there's a specific test, called a tympanogram, that checks for fluid in the middle ear. She was thinking it was possible Chase had this fluid issue because typically when little ones aren't able to repeat sounds and specifically aren't saying any consonant sounds (P, B, C, etc.), a lot of times they have this fluid in the middle ear that gives them "underwater" hearing or "swimmer's ear," making it difficult to distinguish sounds. We were heading in for his 18 month check-up the following week, so I made sure to ask for the test. No surprise, our pediatrician (whom we don't really like) was unable to administer the test (she ended up having her nurse attempt it since she didn't know how to even use the thing, also to no avail) and we were sent away with a referral to a local ENT.

We went to the ENT, had the tympanogram completed, and it did in fact reveal fluid in Chase's right ear. I was quite stunned! This child has never ONCE in his life been treated for an ear infection. He's never ONCE exhibited the signs or symptoms of an ear infection. The ONLY "problem" we've noticed has been his slight speech delay. So the ENT doc comes in (for the record, he's 212 years old), checks his ears, agrees with the findings from the tympanogram, and sends us on our way with a prescription for an antibiotic and tells us to return in 2 weeks.

Fast-forward after 2 weeks of meds, we return to the ENT. Well, Dr. Dinosaur looks in both ears and says there's still fluid in both ears ((both?? I thought it was just the right one 2 weeks ago??)) and says he wants us to repeat the tympanogram. Super. After waiting with both kids for another 30 minutes, we were able to knock out the 13 second test (literally), which again only indicated fluid in his right ear only, and wait AGAIN to see the doc. He comes hobbling in and announces, "Gotta put tubes in!"

((sigh))

I said, "Seriously? Is that really the next step? Two weeks of antibiotics and now tubes? Is there anything else we can do??" Obviously I wasn't keen on the idea of putting Chase through another surgery with general anesthesia, no matter how "minor" or "routine" it would be.

His response: "We can do nothing. I guess that's something."

Seriously. I almost hit the floor. How cooperative and helpful, right? Geez. He started talking about getting the procedure scheduled, blah blah blah... and I interrupted him and said if anything is going to be done, it would not be done here. I turned to his nurse and told her she needed to contact Dr. H at MUSC and schedule an appointment with her for a second opinion.

So that's where we are. Of course I realize putting tubes in is a quick procedure, but it DOES require general anesthesia, which you know is not our favorite idea when it comes to our Top 10 Things to Put Chase Through (as if he hasn't already been through enough!). We also have another consult scheduled while we're at MUSC with another department about another procedure we have been contemplating. We plan to ask lots of questions and just "wait and see" how we feel after that consultation to determine if we want to move forward with the additional procedure or not.

But for now, the plan is most likely to put tubes in our little man's ears one day this week.

So that's that. Prayers are appreciated.

Blogging Break

2011-05-23T20:07:00.000-04:00

Taking a break from blogging, duration unknown...

Blog Schmog . . . Mama's in a Fog

2011-05-20T12:02:00.002-04:00

Haven't blogged much lately. Life has been challenging and there are lots of things up in the air. Decisions need to be made, yet I'm nowhere near being in the right frame of mind to make important decisions. But alas, I have to. And it sucks. But it is what it is. So maybe that explains a bit why you haven't seen much from me here on the blog. Hopefully that will improve eventually, but for now, I'm working through some stuff.

For now, I'm gonna share some recent pics of the kids. Can't go wrong with that.

Inspiration

2011-05-14T21:37:00.002-04:00

I am in desperate need of some inspiration.

I need some bright, shiny, happy quotes that encourage a person to hold on and forge through dark, difficult times.

Can anyone share some positive, uplifting thoughts/quotes with me?

An ENT Update

2011-05-11T08:43:00.000-04:00

Chase had a visit with an ENT yesterday. Long story short, his Speech Therapist suggested we take Chase in for a tympanometry test to check to see if he has fluid in his middle ear. Apparently this kind of fluid can make a child feel like they're underwater and makes it difficult for them to repeat consonant sounds like B, P, M, etc. Since he hasn't been making much progress with ST, it made sense to have him tested for this. We attempted to have his primary pediatrician's office perform the test, but, honestly, they just suck. We're going to be looking for a new pediatrician this summer because we've HAD IT with the crappy care we've experienced at our current office (remember the "wait 'til he has a 105 rectal temp before going to the ER" advice their nurse gave us?). Anyway. They couldn't perform the test well so they referred us to an ENT.

Yesterday we met with an audiologist who performed Chase's typanogram. She was super-sweet and did an awesome job. The test did show Chase has some fluid in his right ear. I wasn't surprised. I occasionally see him grab or pull at his right ear, but not often enough or accompanied by other symptoms to make me think he had an ear infection. After the typanometry test, Chase and I sat in a sound-proof booth while the audiologist played sounds to our left and right. Chase responded (in my opinion) VERY well to the sounds! The audiologist mentioned he did a great job, but that even kids who are deaf in one ear would respond the same way. She noted she had NO WORRIES that he was having any substantial hearing difficulties in either ear, and I haven't thought so, either, so it was good to confirm this.

We then met with the doctor who took a look in both of his ears and confirmed some fluid in his right middle ear. He confirmed there were no signs of infection and sent us home with a prescription for Pediapred (Prednisolone) to help get rid of the fluid, and said to come back in 2 weeks to recheck him. I'm very hopeful that the fluid can be eliminated with a simple prescription! I was already fearing having to head to Charleston to have tubes put in. Hopefully it won't come to that!

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T19:48:00.000-04:00

Happy Mother's Day to all of my mom friends, especially all of you heart mamas out there!

Here's a quick recap since Friday...

We had Chase's cardiology appointment Friday morning and I'm ECSTATIC to say he did AMAZING!!! He wasn't a big fan of getting his bp's or o2, which is so very typical. However, he was a STUD-MUFFIN when it came to his echo, which was the more important part of the process! He laid still and watched "Curious George" on his iPod while mommy held his hands and daddy kept his legs still. We didn't have to hold him down per se, but just sort of prevent him from getting up or fighting us. He didn't fight at all! He was amazing for all of the 15-20 minutes they needed for his echo. Then we went back to the exam room and waited on the doctor. He was completely pleased with Chase's echos, bp's, sats and pulses. He kept us on the same meds (Enalapril for bp and 1/2 baby aspirin) and said, "See ya in 6 months!!!" That's exactly what I was hoping to hear! This will be the longest time we've gone between cardiology appointments! What a blessing!

Friday was also my birthday, so Chase's cardiology news was the Best. Present. Ever!!! Hubs then took me out to dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, and we enjoyed the BEST dinner of my life! It was amazing.

I enjoyed some yummy pancakes and strawberries for breakfast this morning, compliments of hubs. I also opened my Mother's Day gift from LO that she made at school. It was a beautiful 11x17 laminated collage of pictures of her throughout her first school year. I just love it so much!!! See?

After I opened LO's gift, it was off to church! Then after church we went to the park with my family and the kids had a great time! Here are some pics that highlight the fun! Enjoy!

LO was happy to run freeeeeeeee!!

I'm not sure she was "posing" for this... I'm pretty sure this was just her sporting some attitude.

Love this pic of the kids -- LO's face cracks me up!

One tough little dude!

Happy, happy boy!!! :)

Just love this boy to pieces!!!

Bring out the bubbles, and this guy brings out the smiles!

Just another crazy face of LO...

Somebody got to try her hand at baseball with her cousins... She had a blast! Notice she's gone lefty on us?

Taking a water break.